


Chasing the Sun

by TheWrongWriter



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alpha Castiel (Supernatural), Alpha Dean Winchester, Alpha Gabriel (Supernatural), Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Beta Charlie Bradbury, Did I mention fluff?, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Smut, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, John Winchester's A+ Parenting, M/M, Omega Sam Winchester, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Recreational Drug Use, lots of fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2020-01-05 19:47:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 21,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18372869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWrongWriter/pseuds/TheWrongWriter
Summary: Sam Winchester wasn't a traditional omega, but he was happy and that was all that mattered. He loved traveling for work and spending time in different (warm) locations. He just never expected to find a mate, and in the unlikeliest of places.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> What's this? _Another_ new work?!? YEP! Don't worry, I'm still writing _Press Play_ , but this idea popped into my head and I had to run with it. Remember, I thrive on kudos & comments-they are love! Enjoy!

There are lots of reasons why one would think Sam Winchester would want to settle down.

After his mom died in a house fire when he was six months old, Sam's dad dragged him and his older brother Dean all over the country. Between his despair at losing his mate and his unhealthy coping mechanisms, John Winchester found it difficult to find a job and even more difficult to keep one.

Another reason was that he was an omega, and people assumed it was in his nature to want to settle down with a mate, have lots of pups, and care for his home and family. But at six-foot-four, Sam was nothing like a typical omega, either in physical attributes or personality. After a disastrous relationship in high school, Sam swore off alpha men. Alpha, beta, and omega women weren't much better-enjoying his size but seeing him as more of a novelty than a potential mate-but they were safer. After a while, it just got old. As for having a family, he was a surrogate for his alpha brother and his alpha mate, giving them a gorgeous baby boy. He wasn't sure he ever wanted to go through _that_ again.

Sam got staying in one place out of his system during college, spending five years at Kansas University to study computer information systems and technology with a minor in Spanish. He probably could have skipped all the extra Spanish classes and finished his degree in four years, but he had a plan. He'd chase the sun-taking IT contracts in the north in the summer and south in the winter, and enjoying the open road in between.

So here he was, a 35-year-old unmated omega, driving his Ford F250 and towing an Airstream trailer (that his brother jokingly refers to as the Baked Potato) down the Pan-American highway, Gin Blossoms playing on the radio. He just finished a six month contract at an aircraft parts manufacturer in Anchorage updating their entire network, hardware and software. He had just under two months until he started his next contract at the capitol building in Panama City, Panama, doing pretty much the same thing.  Two months to kick around and take in a little culture.

 _Hey Jealousy_ was interrupted by the obnoxious ring Sam had set as his brother's ringtone. He couldn't help but smile as he hit the hands-free phone control on the steering wheel and said, "Hey Jerk."

"Hey Bitch," was his brother's response. "Where're you at?"

"Highway 2, maybe twenty miles north of Whitehorse," he replied, looking at the GPS on the navigation console.

"Damn, you're making good time already. You in a hurry or something?"

"Just want to make it to the lower 48 before September."

"Good deal." Dean paused a moment, Sam thinking the call dropped before he continued. "So Jack's been bugging us about giving him a baby brother again."

"Nope," Sam interrupted him. "If you want to, go ahead, but you'll need to find a different surrogate. I'm done."

"But Sammy," Dean whined.

"It's Sam, Sammy was a chubby twelve year old. Besides, maybe with a different surrogate you guys could use your swimmers instead of Cas'."

"You know why I don't wanna use my stuff, Sam," Dean said darkly. Yeah, Sam knew. Dean was worried that if they used Winchester sperm then the kid would be as screwed-up as Dean supposedly was, which Sam always called bullshit on. However, he wasn't about to re-hash that old argument while driving. "Jack's almost ten, are you telling me you guys really want to deal with a toddler and a teenager at the same time?"

After a beat, Dean agrees, "Good point, I'll use that argument next time he brings it up. Maybe threaten to make him babysit." That makes both brothers laugh.

"Good idea. So did you need anything else, or just my uterus?"

Dean sounds like he's choking on the other end of the line. "No! Geez, Sammy. You're more than just an incubator, you know that. I just wanted to see how you were doing."

"I'm good," he replies. "Tired, but good. Alaska in the summer is gorgeous, but I'm glad to be heading south before it starts snowing."

"For sure man, avoid the evil white stuff as much as possible," Dean chuckles.

"You know it. The plan is to make it to Panama by the end of September, settle in at the KOA campground, and take a month vacation before starting on November first. Then I'll be working until the end of April. That's as far ahead as I've planned."

"God, that must be nice," Dean said. "Between both of us working and all of Jack's activities, we gotta schedule sex a month in advance."

"And you want another one?" Sam teased.

"Yeah, Yeah," Dean muttered. "Anyways, when you finish up in Panama, why don't you come back to Kansas and visit for a while? We miss your face."

After a moment of thought, Sam agrees. "I could probably make it up there for a couple weeks, but don't ask me to deal with another midwestern summer."

"Deal."

As Sam gets closer to Whitehorse, traffic picks up, so he lets his brother go. It's almost dinnertime, so Sam decides now would be a good time to stop for the night, maybe enjoy the mild weather and sightsee for a day before heading out. Yep, life on the road was fantastic.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up, I'm not posting on a set schedule; I'm posting what I want, whenever the mood strikes me. The creative juices are still flowing like a waterfall though, so expect lots of updates on both stories :)

There was one time in college where Sam's roommate brought some pot back to their dorm room, but it had turned out to be oregano. This was nothing like that.

Sam sat in a quiet corner of iBake Denver with a CBD vape pen, a craft beer, and an actual newspaper. He didn't care much for current events, which mostly revolved around their asinine president, but instead had the Lifestyle and Community sections spread out before him. One of the things he loved most about travelling the way he did was all the new things he could experience. He'd been to Denver quite a few times since he started out, but there was always more to see and do. Last time he was in Denver, maybe two years ago, he'd heard Bass Ops play live at Vinyl. His finger traced down the newspaper page looking for concerts and music events when its path was halted by a brownie appearing at the bottom of the page. He looked up to see honey eyes and a cocky smirk.

"Place is a little crowded, thought maybe I'd bribe you to share your table with me," the guy said. Sam looked around and the place was almost empty, not surprising considering it was a Tuesday afternoon. A discreet sniff didn't clue him in to the guy's secondary gender, but that didn't mean anything. Sam was on pretty mild suppressants considering his size, and they did a good job of muting his natural Granny Smith and Fuji apple scent. It didn't matter though; Sam didn't do guys, period.

With a polite smile, he pushed the brownie towards him with a, "No, thank you."

The guy just shrugged with a smile and walked away, leaving the brownie for Sam. It sat there mocking him for the next hour as he circled several things in the paper he wanted to check out, but he didn't see the guy again. Not one to waste food, he wrapped it up in a napkin and slipped it in his pocket as he stood up and gathered his things to leave. He totally forgets it until much later that night when he gets back to his trailer. Before tucking in for the night, he breaks a corner off. It was absolutely delicious. It was also absolutely laced with weed. He crashed out that night feeling pretty damned groovy after polishing off the brownie.

\-----

A week later found Sam at Ripley's Believe It or Not in San Antonio. Again. He can't help but stop in every time he goes through San Antonio because it reminds him of some of his and his brother's better times on the road. The 4D Moving Theater was fairly new, but he'd already promised Dean he wouldn't try it without him. He purchased his ticket for the Odditorium and spent the next few hours just wandering around, reading all the cards (some for the third or even fourth time, he didn't care), and reminiscing about his visits as a kid.

One time, when Sam was eleven and Dean was fifteen, their dad had dropped them off in downtown San Antonio and told the boys to "go learn something", giving them each a ten dollar bill and telling them to meet him in front of Ripley's at six o'clock. Dean had managed to sneak them into Ripley's without paying, and they spent the entire day making up stories about each of the exhibits-how they were found, if any of the objects were cursed or blessed, what the people were doing now, if the tallest man and the bearded lady adopted the two-headed goat and had a farm and a dozen kids together. Sam spent his money on a couple slices of pizza and a drink, which he shared with Dean. Dean spent his money on souvenirs for Sam-a flattened penny, a new t-shirt a size too big ("Because you grow so damned fast," Dean had said), and a book of postcards with different oddities on them. When their dad picked them up and asked them what they'd learned, Dean was so proud telling his dad about everything they saw, but the more he talked, the angrier their dad got. "I expected you two to go to the Alamo or some shit," he'd said, "not fuck around with something useless. If you can't teach your brother useful shit I might as well drop you two in school somewhere." Dean's scent soured so fast that Sam almost puked at the smell.

Regardless of John Winchester's A+ parenting, Dean did his best to take care of Sam, and they both grew up to be great men. Sam would never be ungrateful for his brother.

Sam turned down the row where he knew the two-headed goat exhibit was, thinking he'd take a selfie with it and send it to Dean, but there was someone already there. A familiar someone, and if he hadn't spotted the guy first, Sam would swear the creep was following him. He backed out slowly and decided to duck out before the guy could see him.

What are the chances he'd see the same stranger in two different cities hundreds of miles apart? Was the guy following him? For the first time in over a decade of travelling, Sam felt really uneasy about being alone. Maybe he'd get a dog. A vicious one that would protect him from creepers. Sam snorted, thinking that if he even attempted to get a dog it would be a marshmallow that wouldn't scare a fly. He kinda liked the idea.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have another chapter! Remember Kudos & Comments = Love :)

Yes, Sam had been considering getting a dog, but in a normal way like going to a shelter or a pet store. He had not intended to run one over. It surprised him that the poor little corgi survived being hit by a truck as big as his. He carefully scooped up the dog and input directions to the nearest vet into his GPS, about a half an hour up the road in Nye, Texas.

At the vet, they patched up the little guy's front right leg and gave him something to sleep it off. As he slept, the vet scanned him for a chip and came up with nothing. That struck Sam as odd because corgis were premium breeds, the pups costing hundreds of dollars. Who would abandon one? Sam didn't really care, the little guy had a new owner now who'd take good care of him. Sam asked the vet to make sure the dog had all of his shots and a checkup before they left. When the vet asked him what he planned to name the dog, Sam just shrugged and grinned, saying, "He hasn't told me yet."

By five o'clock Sam and his new friend were back on the road with pain meds, an antibiotic to prevent infection, and a brand new chip on the back of his neck and a link where Sam could get online to fill out the information.

"So what's your name?" he asked the dog playfully, scratching him behind the ear. "You're definitely not a Spot or a Fido." The dog, still lethargic, shifted his eyes to look at Sam and cocked one ear. "I don't think you'd have a human name, you don't look like a George or a Fred or a Steve, or anything like that." The dog whined and covered his nose with one paw, which made Sam laugh. "We've got time, we'll figure it out."

Sam kept driving with the music turned low so his little friend could doze, his hind legs kicking as he dreamed. Sam smiled and scritched his head, wondering what he was dreaming about. As he got closer to Laredo he popped his CD out and searched the radio for something local. It was mostly Tejano and country stations, but he landed on a fuzzy classic rock station that cleared up the closer he got to the city, and he left that on. When _Carry On Wayward Son_ by Kansas came on, the little dog's head shot up, his head swiveling around with his tongue hanging out.

"You like that, huh?" Sam asked, and the little dog yipped happily. Sam turned up the radio and sang along, the dog squirming and yipping along, making Sam laugh. He couldn't remember the last time something so simple made him so happy.

At the border crossing, Sam dug around for his passport and employment paperwork. He turned down the radio so he could hear the man at the booth as he handed over all his paperwork. That's when _Heat of the Moment_ came on and the little dog went nuts, his tail wagging like crazy and thumping the seat. If Sam didn't know any better, his little yips sounded like he was trying to sing along.

"He's a happy little guy, eh?" the man in the booth said, the animal's happiness clearly rubbing off on him and making him smile broadly. He handed Sam back his paperwork and waved him through.

Sam looked at the little dog and said, "You _are_ happy, huh?", to which the dog responded by barking joyfully and butting his head against Sam's leg. "OK, Happy it is."

\-----

What would have taken Sam about five days turned into little over a week getting down to Panama City. Happy was a good passenger, but also needed time to run around, which slowed him down. Sam didn't mind, though. In fact, it gave Sam time to slow himself down. He wasn't in a rush so he just enjoyed the trip instead of focusing on the destination. He'd taken lots of pictures of Happy running through the wildflowers on the side of the road and sent them to Dean, to which Dean called and yelled at him that now that Jack was begging him and Cas for a dog.

The thing about travelling with a trailer was that you couldn't just set up shop close to work, because there were rarely hookups inside the city. Sam ended up setting up about forty five minutes out at Farfan Beach. He could have cut that distance in half by going to Camino de Cruces, but he wanted to be on the water. He would probably move inland come December, when the temperatures finally dipped below sixty degrees. But right now it was a balmy eighty degrees; he had his dog, his beer, and his hibachi set up in time to enjoy the sunset.

In the mornings, Happy turned out to be an enthusiastic running partner. Sam would take off, his long legs eating up the beach, while Happy tried valiantly to keep up on his short little legs. Afternoons found Sam sitting under an umbrella outside, either reading or on his laptop, while Happy dozed in the sand. Evenings were the best for Sam though. He'd found a little life jacket for Happy, and they'd spend the waning sunlight on the pier with Sam throwing a tennis ball out into the water and Happy jumping off the pier to go fetch it.

"Now that's the most adorable thing I've ever seen," Sam heard a voice behind him say. He turned to find the honey-eyed stranger just standing at the foot of the pier, hands in his pockets and a big grin on his face.

"Are you following me?" Sam asked playfully. No need to worry yet.

"Nah, although this happy little coincidence is a bonus." The man walked up the pier to where Sam was kneeling down to get Happy from the water. "Although if I knew you were a puppy parent, I might have tried a little harder back in Denver. He's a cutie." Said cutie picked that moment to shake the water from his fur, splattering them both.

"So how is it we manage to keep crossing paths then?" Sam asked, not entirely convinced the man hadn't been following him.

"How do I know _you're_ not following _me_?" he responded.

Sam laughed at that. "Fair enough. So what do you do that keeps you traveling?"

"Freelance writer. Gabriel Milton," he said, offering his hand. Sam took it, impressed.

"I've read some of your work, it's damned good. The piece you did on the corruption in FEMA was amazing, and from what I read it caught the eye of the US Attorney General. I'm Sam," he offered, shaking his hand.

"Well Sam, if that grill's not just for show, maybe I could join you and cutie here for dinner. I'll bring the meat if you bring the dessert," he said with an eye waggle. Sam laughed at the innuendo.

"I would love to pick your brain, but keep in mind I'm not looking for anything more," Sam said. He was trying to keep it light enough not to scare off a new friend while making sure the man knew he wasn't interested in anything else.

"Meh, damned shame, but I'm sure your mind is just as awesome as your body." He winked at Sam and took a step back. "Let me go grab those steaks and I'll be right back." He turned and took off at a slow jog. Happy started jumping and licking at Sam's hand, so he picked him up.

"I hope I'm not making a mistake," he whispered to Happy. It'd be nice to have another person to talk to, but at the first sign of trouble he'd pack up and move inland sooner than planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've never seen a corgi jumping into water, you are seriously deprived. [Check it out!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glii-kazad8)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have another chapter! Remember, I live off kudos & comments, they make me feel warm & fuzzy inside :)

By mid-October, Sam was squared away to start his new contract. His biggest concern now was making sure Happy would be okay while he was at work all day. Another camper down the beach, Alfredo, also had a dog, and he showed Sam his setup. His own dog (a German Shepard named Chupa because the dog could act like a major dick) had a doghouse that Alfredo pinned to the ground with tent spikes, and inside he put big bowls of food and water set up on cinder blocks so that it wouldn't attract ants. Sam did pretty much the same thing, but also ran an extension cord out and set up a fan inside so his little buddy wouldn't overheat. He also gave him a long enough lead so he could go sit under the trees if he wanted. Now all he had to hope for was that no one stole his dog.

Gabriel was actually set up in a hotel near the Aeropuerto Internacional Panama Pacifico, and he was in town working on a story (he wouldn't say what it was about) until around Christmas. He volunteered to swing by the trailer on his way into town to make sure Happy was happy.

Since their first official meeting on the pier, Gabriel had stopped overtly flirting with Sam, although Sam could tell it took a lot of effort for the man, who was a natural flirt. A few compliments and such still slipped out on occasion, which Sam never said anything about because it had been a long time since anyone had flirted with him. It felt kinda nice. They spent a couple evenings a week together just talking about everything-current events, books, movies, politics, religions-everything except themselves. Sam still doesn't know Gabriel's secondary gender, and he hasn't told him about him being an Omega. Frankly, it didn't matter to Sam because they were just friends, and his secondary gender was private. Gabriel seemed to be of a similar mindset and never pushed the issue, which relieved Sam.

It's just him and Happy tonight though, because Gabriel was out doing research. He'd taken the dog out to the Omar Torrijos Recreational Park to play some Frisbee, watch some kids playing soccer (Happy thought he'd get in on that, which the kids loved), and then have some street tacos for lunch. Now Happy was passed out and snoring in the shade underneath the trailer while Sam sat back Facetiming with his brother, brother-in-law, and nephew.

"Have you seen any dolphins?" Jack asked as Sam panned the camera around to show them all the water.

"Nope. I'm not on the ocean, I'm actually on an inlet," Sam told him.

"Here," Cas told Jack, handing him an iPad. "This is where Uncle Sam is at." Cas and Jack walked away talking about geography, leaving the brothers time to catch up.

"So how are things at the shop?" Sam asked his brother. Last year he expanded into custom restorations, and since then Dean has been working almost 60-hour weeks.

"Fuckin' awesome," he said with a grin. "I hired this kid named Alfie, only nineteen, and better with a wrench than I ever thought about being at his age. Kid's a freakin' genius."

"Which side you got him on?" Sam asked.

"I got him on restorations with me. Kid's an omega, and Cole has been sniffing around him. Figured this way I could keep an eye on him and have one of the best mechanics in the shop on the big money projects."

Sam sighed. He remembered Cole; the prick had hit on him repeatedly until Dean threatened to fire him. After that, Cole wouldn't talk to him, but had no problem spreading rumors about him being an uptight prude. Sam didn't care, as long as the man left him alone.

"I don't see why you keep him on, he's an HR nightmare waiting to happen," Sam said.

"Guy keeps under the radar, and is a damned good mechanic that his customers love. If I had a good reason, I'd drop him in a heartbeat." Dean took a swig of his beer.

Cas came back on screen without Jack, who was probably on the computer looking up stuff about where Sam was at. Cas was the kind of parent to encourage all kinds of learning. "When's the last time you went out with someone, Sam?"

Sam must have hesitated too long wondering if Gabriel counted or not, because his brother started ribbing him.

"What's her name Sammy?" Dean asked jovially. "Let me guess-she's tall and brunette with an 'interesting personality'," he joked, because Sam was always telling Dean that women were more than tits and ass.

"Short and blonde," Sam teased, "with an amazing personality, and that's all you're getting." Dean and Cas didn't need to know he wasn't dating, but if it got them off of his back, he'd let them think it.

"you're killing me, Sammy," Dean said, laughing. "But good for you. I know you got Happy now, but you need someone to talk to who'll actually talk back."

"Speaking of Happy, I need to take him to do his business before we crash for the night. Take it easy, ok?"

"I'll take it any way I can get it," Dean said with a grin and a wink, and Sam laughed. "G'nite bitch."

"Night jerk, Night Cas," Sam said.

"Good night Sam, take care of yourself," Cas said before Dean cut the video call.

The sun was barely setting so Sam stripped off his t-shirt and took a running leap into the water. Happy looked up at the splash and ran to join Sam, yipping and generally being adorable. The two played around for a good half an hour, Sam picking up the little dog and tossing him into the water, only for Happy to happily swim back to Sam to have him do it again.

"Amazing," Sam heard a voice say, and he looked over until he saw Gabriel. "I didn't know you could teach a dog to play fetch with himself!"

Sam laughed loudly, amused by both Gabriel and his musings. He was wearing board shorts, a t-shirt, and flip-flops himself, so Sam said, "Why don't you join us? We could probably play catch with him and he'd love it." Gabriel bounced his eyebrows and jumped off the little pier, not even bothering to take off his shirt. He cannonballed right next to Sam and Happy, and the little dog barked and squirmed out of Sam's arms and made his way over to Gabriel.

The two men laughed and splashed and tossed the little dog between them until the sun had dipped below the horizon. When it was too dark to really see much, they made their way back up to Sam's trailer and he went to get them a couple of towels. When he stepped back outside, he saw the man standing at his car bare-ass naked, his wet clothes draped over his car door while he was bent over the back seat pulling out dry clothes.

Sam sucked in a breath and turned his back towards Gabriel, because friends gave each other privacy, not stared at their asses. "I've got towels if you need one!" Sam yelled over his shoulder, holding a towel out awkwardly behind him. A minute passed but before Sam's arm could get tired Gabriel pulled the towel from his hand.

A sweet smell passed Sam's nose-brown sugar, or maybe caramel. He sniffed a little more-maybe a little bourbon? But the notes were strong, distinct, unique. Sam turned to look at Gabriel, and the man gave him a big grin as always. Definitely alpha.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm on a roll, so here's another chapter. Enjoy!

November first seemed to come too quickly for Sam. He drove his truck into the underground parking garage for the capital building, barely making the clearance limit. Grabbing his backpack with his laptop and all of his paperwork, he took the stairs up to the rotunda where he was supposed to meet some guy named Charlie, another American contractor who'd arrived over the summer to start revamping both their databases and their security.

Being a history buff, Sam could really enjoy this building. Spanish colonial architecture was rampant in Panama, but this building was remarkably both well-preserved and unobtrusively updated. He was especially impressed how the rotunda was open and filled with plants like an indoor courtyard, the skylight three stories up providing ample natural light. He'd been looking straight up when a poke to the side made him jump. A tiny redhead was standing next to him wearing a huge smile.

"Sam Winchester?" she asked.

"Yes, that's me," he replied holding out his hand. "I'm supposed to meet with Charlie Bradbury."

"That would be me! Now, before we go any further, your job here will be decided on your answer to this next question." Sam looked at her nervously. "Star Trek or Star Wars?" _What?!?_

"I'm Star Wars, my older brother is Star Trek," he answered slowly and skeptically.

"Awesome! We're gonna get along just fine!" she said with a huge grin and a one-armed hug.

"Out of curiosity, what was the right answer?" Sam asked her.

She waved her hand at him in a dismissive gesture. "Psht, there's not really a _right_ answer, but the _wrong_ answer would have been _neither_. I wouldn't have been able to work with you then, and I'm a lot more valuable than you are."

_O…kay then._

The rest of the morning passed amiably, and strangely enough Sam found himself opening up to her about stuff he'd never discuss with a stranger. Within an hour he knew she was a beta and she knew he was an omega; he knew she was an only child and she knew that Sam had an older brother; they knew that neither of them had any surviving parents; he knew she was strictly into women and she knew Sam swore off men. It was beyond weird for Sam to be this comfortable with someone so quickly. He didn't even take to Gabriel this quickly.

"That's just because I'm awesome," Charlie said, and Sam realized he must have said that out loud. "And who's Gabriel?" she asked. Crap, he said _that_ out loud, too.

And that's how Sam ended up telling Charlie about Brady back in high school, what he did to Sam, and why he refuses to date alpha guys. Charlie cringed, then hugged Sam tightly.

"If I ever meet that asshat, I'm chopping his knot off," Charlie said into Sam's ribs, and he couldn't help but laugh. It felt strangely good to talk about it. Lord knows he couldn't talk about anything like this with Dean.

"I appreciate that Charlie," he said, squeezing her then letting her go. "Now, show me the magic you worked and what you need me to do."

Sam and Charlie worked amazingly well together. Maybe it was the emotional connection they already seemed to have formed, but it was like they could finish each other's lines of code. They intuitively knew what the other wanted to accomplish. By the end of their first day, they already had a solid plan of how to accomplish what the Panamanian government wanted them to do with their government network, as well as to improve on those things while staying under budget and on time. Sam headed back to his trailer that day exhausted in a good way, the way you feel when you know you've accomplished something.

He pulled up to the trailer and saw Gabriel sitting under the tree with Happy. His little friend started getting excited, and so did his dog. Sam snickered at his own joke.

"Hi honey, I'm home!" Sam called out jokingly.

"How was your day at work dear?" Gabriel responded, picking up Happy and taking him over to Sam before the little guy could hurt himself in his excitement. "As you can see, the baby missed you."

Sam laughed and took Happy, who happily licked Sam all over his face.

Sam proceeded to tell Gabriel about his day and about Charlie, but when he started talking about his work Gabriel's eyes started glazing over; he got that same look often from Dean whenever he started 'talking nerd'. So rather than bore the man, he asked him about how he'd been doing while he started making dinner, taking advantage of the grill as long as the weather allowed it.

As Gabriel talked, Sam was suddenly struck by how domestic they'd gotten. They'd barely known each other for a month, but they were easy around each other in a way that reminded Sam of his brother and his mate, the only thing missing was the affection and mingling of scents to warm the space.

"Do you wear blockers?" Sam asked abruptly, interrupting Gabriel.

Gabriel arched his brows in surprise. "How do you know I wear blockers and I'm not a beta, or that I'm not on suppressants?"

Sam blushed. He didn't know how to explain to Gabriel that he'd smelled him after swimming, that his blockers must have washed off. Gabriel seemed to already understand though and smiled. "Well aren't you just a little investigative reporter?" he joked. Not offended in the slightest, he explained, "Some people are uncomfortable around alphas, and it makes it harder to do my job. I prefer blockers to suppressants because I don't like the synthetic hormones in my body. It's a shrine, Sammy," he said jokingly, rubbing his chest in mock provocation.

Sam laughed and joked, "A shrine to Buddha?" Both men broke out laughing.

"How about you?" Gabriel asked. "Any reason you use suppressants? Or just don't like dealing when nature strikes?"

Sam shrugged. "Just don't like dealing with anything that goes with my secondary gender," he said, not wanting to confirm or deny either an alpha or omega designation. Gabriel just nodded and said "Fair enough."

Gabriel smoothly changed the topic of conversation, for which Sam was grateful. They sat in lawn chairs eating and taking turns throwing a tennis ball for Happy to chase around, until the sun set. Gabriel offered to clean Sam's hibachi while Sam took care of the dishes, and before Sam knew it Gabriel was ready to head out.

Sam waved to him from the door of his trailer, but before he left Gabriel rolled down his window and said, "For the record, I don't care that you're an omega; I'd be your friend regardless, and more if you'd let me." Then he saluted Sam and drove off.

_How the hell did he figure it out?!?_


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter! Wheeeeee!

Sam hadn't seen or heard from Gabriel for days after he dropped his little bomb about knowing Sam's secondary gender. He wondered if Gabriel was worried Sam was mad at him, or if he didn't want to talk to him anymore. But then again, Sam hadn't reached out, either. He forgot that dealing with other people was hard. He also forgot what it was like to miss having someone around. Happy obviously missed the man, too, because his head whipped towards the road every time he heard a car, and whined when Gabriel's car didn't come up the trail to the trailer.

Even Charlie noticed the funk he was sinking into, and of course he spilled the whole thing to her.

"Dude, he's not Brady," she said, and he was so startled by that statement he almost got whiplash turning to face her.

"No shit, he's not Brady."

"Then don't hold it against him for being an Alpha."

"I don't!" Sam was getting defensive now, and if Charlie read him right…

"It's okay if you like him," she said, her voice soft and kind. "He sounds like a really neat guy."

Sam sighed. "He is." Sam spins his chair in circles a few times trying to figure out what to say next, but Charlie beat him to it.

"Not every alpha is an asshole knothead. The majority of them aren't. You can't let one bad experience stop you from being happy."

"It's not that easy Charlie. It's scary as fuck." After his admission, they get back to work in comfortable silence, although Sam has to put a lot of effort into concentrating on his work.

\-----

It's still another week with no word from Gabriel, and Sam is still too chickenshit to make the first move. He doesn't even know what's going on at this point, why he hasn't heard from Gabriel. Finally, he nuts up and calls the man's number, but it goes straight to voicemail. With a sigh, he puts his phone on the charger and takes Happy out for a run.

\-----

Sam has tried calling Gabriel multiple times throughout November, but it always goes straight to voicemail and Gabriel never tries returning his calls. He's not only missing his friend, but mourning might have been. The more Sam thinks about it, the more he thinks a relationship with Gabriel might have worked out. Gabriel was respectful, fun, funny, and Sam loved being around him. He was super smart and they always had great conversations. And yeah, Sam blushed thinking about Gabriel's eyes and how sexy he looked when he bounced his eyebrows at him playfully.

Maybe this is a sign that Sam is ready to try dating again, girls or guys. Maybe he'd take a longer contract somewhere, maybe even set down roots one day. Happy barks at his feet, dropping a tennis ball and jumping around. Sam picks up the ball and tosses it, watching it bounce down the pier and fall off, and Happy doing his Corgi belly-flop into the water after it. He laughs, and realizes that nah, he wasn't ready to give this up for anyone. Not yet.

A blue sedan pulls off the road wildly and races towards Sam's trailer. It comes to a screeching halt almost right in front of the trailer and the door flings open. Gabriel jumps out looking like a madman. "Sammy!" he cries out, running up to Sam and throwing his arms around him. Sam just stands there, not hugging back or anything, just kind of flabbergasted.

"Gabe?" Sam says, confused.

"I'm so sorry Sam, I wouldn't have just up and left you like that, I swear! My editor called me back, and the fucking security equipment at the airport was old and electromagnetic and wiped my phone and I had no way to get a hold of you and I had to stay in D.C. and go to all these fucking meetings and-"

"Gabe, _Gabe!_ Calm down," Sam said, finally getting with the program and wrapping his arms around the shorter man, stroking his hair to soothe him.

"I'm sorry Sam," Gabriel whispers against his chest, squeezing him tight. Sam squeezes him right back, tilting his head down to kiss him on the top of his head.

Gabriel looks up at him, questions in his eyes, and Sam just smiles. He's happy to have his friend back, and he's happy for another chance to see what could be; he can't be mad at the man for circumstances beyond his control, especially when he's so repentant. He leans down and kisses him gently, just a soft brush of lips. Gabriel blinks at him, eyes wide in shock, and Sam just laughs.

"How about we grab a couple beers and you tell me everything, okay?" Sam says, and Gabriel just nods at him mutely. Sam gives him another soft kiss and goes to grab those beers while Happy gets his share of kisses from Gabriel, too.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK, throwing out a trigger warning for bad shit happening to our Sammy in the past, but Gabriel's there to help him feel better.
> 
> I'll do what I can to keep posting, but my own triggers have been set off recently and I'm coping with that, which makes me not want to do anything. I'll keep writing, but it may be slower.

Sam's been able to somewhat figure out what he wants, but damned if he knows how to explain it to Gabriel. The man is patiently playing catch with Happy while Sam sits there trying to figure out what to say, where to even start. He could tell Gabriel about all the women who made him feel inferior because he was an omega, that he would never be good enough to be their provider, that they wanted an alpha to take care of them, and how worthless it's made him feel. Deep down though, he knows he needs to go further back.

"His name was Brady, and he was my high school sweetheart," Sam starts slowly. Gabriel looks over his shoulder at Sam to let him know he's listening, but continues tossing the ball to Happy.

"Brady and I were best friends as kids. We both presented as freshmen-me as an omega and him as an alpha-and in tenth grade he kissed me." Sam takes a shaky breath and another sip of his beer. "He told me we'd both be safer not telling anyone, or else we could get bullied or worse, lose our popularity. So for the next couple of years we kinda dated around, held hands with our girlfriends in school while making out with each other after. No one suspected anything since we'd always been close."

Sam stops to breathe, to make sure the memories don't overwhelm him. Gabriel tosses the tennis ball at Sam's feet and Happy abandons it to give Sam luvins, which he feels is just what he needed.

"Over winter break our senior year, we finally slept together, and I let him knot me. I mean, he was my first and I loved him, and I told him that. And… he laughed at me." Sam snorted, shook his head at the memory. "He said that we were just fuckbuddies, that he wouldn't be caught dead with a male omega, especially one that was bigger than him. When I got upset he said he didn't have time for that bullshit and yanked his knot out before it went down, and just left." _That_ got Gabriel's attention, and he looked murderous at the thought that anyone would do something like that, especially to Sam. "I hadn't been with a guy since, alpha or otherwise."

Gabriel took Sam's hand and squeezed, sympathy and rage warring in his amber eyes. Sam squeezed back, but continued before Gabriel could say anything.

"I only dated women after that. Female alphas have smaller knots than males, so I was pretty sure if any of them tried what Brady did then it wouldn't hurt as bad. None of them hurt me physically, but none of them wanted a male omega as a life partner. Betas and omegas were slightly better, but they didn't want a male omega, either; I was just a novelty because I looked like an alpha. The closest I came to happy was when I dated a single mom named Amy, but it turned out she only dated me because omegas are born caregivers and she wanted help raising her son."

Gabriel's still silent next to Sam, absorbing his story. If it were anyone else, Sam would be nervous about that, but he isn't. Gabriel's been cool the whole time they've known each other, so Sam's very sure Gabriel's not gonna be an asshole about this. If he was, he wouldn't still be holding Sam's hand.

"Can I hug you?" Gabriel asks quietly, unable to look Sam in the eye. Sam just stands and pulls Gabriel into his arms, and Gabriel squeezes Sam for all he's worth. Sam chuckles and squeezes him back, resting his chin on top of Gabriel's head. It's been a long time since Sam's been held like this, and it hits him hard how much he missed it. He feels tears welling up in his eyes and he tries to breathe through it so they don't fall.

"You're pretty fucking awesome," Gabriel said, his voice cracking, and Sam laughed.

"Nah, I'm just me," Sam replied.

Gabriel leans back so he can look up at Sam without leaving his arms. "See, now that pings my bullshit meter, because you're not 'just' anything. You have so much common sense it should be classified as a superpower and your intelligence and wit are off the charts, so even if you weren't drop-dead gorgeous I'd want to climb you like a tree."

Sam blushes at the compliments, not because he's not used to them but because he's not used to them being so sincere.

"Tell ya what, Samshine, how about we play this by ear?" Gabriel lets go of Sam long enough to push him back into his lawn chair and crawl into his lap, arms wrapped around his neck. He steals Sam's beer from his hand and finishes it off before dropping the bottle to the ground. "You agree to let me show you all the love and affection I think you deserve with the understanding that you can stop me at any time without fear of repercussion. Deal?"

Sam thinks on it a moment, taking in the sincerity in Gabriel's eyes. With this man, he's willing to try. "Deal."


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter, depression has been killing my creativity. I'll get back into the swing of things soon.

When Sam agreed to giving a relationship with Gabriel a chance, he really didn't know what to expect. He damned sure wasn't expecting the scene in front of him.

Sam drove up the little path from the road to his trailer to see a small travel van parked next to it. The area in front of the van and his trailer where he'd previously set up his lawn chairs and hibachi was now decorated with patio lights and citronella torches. The lawn chairs still sat in front of Sam's trailer, but there was also fold-up picnic table and a slightly larger gas grill accompanying them. Happy even has a small tarp shading his little doghouse with fairy lights dangling from the edges. In between the two vehicles to block it from the wind is a small potted evergreen with lights and decorations on it.

Both Happy and Gabriel bound joyously up to Sam as he got out of his truck.

"Ta da!" Gabriel says enthusiastically, giving 'game show hands' to show off his handiwork. "Whatcha think Samshine?"

"What is all this?" Sam asks. He isn't perturbed or upset or anything, just curious.

"Well, I'm here until Christmas, and I wanted to spend more time with you, so instead of going back to the hotel I just got a place a little closer." Gabriel's grin is smug and self-satisfying to match his spicy cinnamon scent.

"You're not wearing blockers," Sam blurts out.

"Nope! When it's just us, you get the full Gabriel Milton experience! The sights, the sounds, the smells-" Sam laughs at that- "the chivalry, the charm. Oh, you're not gonna be able to handle all the charm I'm gonna throw at you, you just wait!"

Gabriel's excitement is infectious, and Sam can't help but smile brightly. "So your plan for the next few weeks is to- what? Monopolize all my time and terrorize me?" he asks playfully.

"I'm gonna woo the crap out of you!" Gabriel says, taking Sam's hand and leading him to the picnic table and getting him to sit down. "Starting with dinner! So just relax, put your feet up, and tell me all about your day at work while I feed you and spoil the crap outta you."

"Well, when you put it that way," Sam says, taking the bottle of beer Gabriel hands him. They chat amiably about their days as Gabriel tends the new grill, serving Sam homemade grilled pizza with fresh vegetables from a local farmer's market. Sam's impressed by Gabriel's cooking skills and tells him so, and Gabriel launches into stories of his childhood. As an only child to ambitious parents, he could have easily let the household staff do everything for him, but he learned early on it made him feel better about himself to do it himself, not to mention the pride his parents had in him when he'd cook for them. They weren't perfect, but they were happy. Sam tells him about his big brother raising him and his inventive culinary skills, particularly his macaroni and cheese.

They enjoy the sunset, Gabriel turning on some lo-fi chillhop and Sam nodding his head along to the soft rhythm. They watch their neighbor Alfredo run down the beach with his dog, and everyone gets sidetracked when Happy tries to follow them. The three chat for a few moments before Sam picks up Happy and Alfredo and his dog continue their jog. When the sun is long gone and the stars fill the sky, accompanied only by the sounds of the surf, Sam gets up and stretches, yawning widely.

Gabriel stands and offers Sam his arm, asking, "May I escort you to your door?" Sam stifles a giggle, which morphs into another yawn. Gabriel's woo game is over the top, and Sam finds himself enjoying every minute of it. He'd always been the one to pursue a woman, show her how special she was, and for someone to treat him that way? It would be nice while it lasted.

Because, really, Sam knew he only had Gabriel until Christmas and then he was off to his next assignment.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Monday everyone-I hope you all had a great Easter weekend! Have another chapter, and keep your eye out for smut on the horizon :)

Sam has to hand it to Gabriel, he sure knows how to make a guy feel special. Every day Sam came home from work to find Gabriel at the grill and Happy running around like a little maniac. They'd eat, talk about their days, and just relax. Sam thinks he's never felt so relaxed, especially with anyone else around so often. Gabriel was affectionate towards him, but not obnoxious. _Well._ Yeah, he was obnoxious, but in a good way, Sam conceded to himself with a smile.

"What's got ya grinnin' there, Sammy?" Gabriel asks, taking Sam's hand. It's sunset now, and they're sitting in their lawn chairs facing the water and watching Happy chase birds around, beers in their free hands.

"Just thinking how obnoxious you are," Sam tells him with a cheeky grin. Gabriel just laughs, bouncing his eyebrows, and kisses Sam's knuckles.

"It's all part of the Milton charm, Sammy. I guarantee you, if I were to stop now, you'd totally miss it."

"Yeah, totally," Sam agrees with a laugh.

As the sun sets and the sky darkens, Gabriel once again tries to impress Sam with his knowledge of pretty much any subject he can think of. Tonight's subject: astronomy.

"Fun fact," Gabriel starts as always, "there are actually three twilights."

"I thought there were four," Sam jokes, referring to the books.

"Smartass," Gabriel replies. He continues, "There's civil twilight, nautical twilight, and astronomical twilight. Civil twilight is when the sun is about six degrees below the horizon. This was created for civil laws regarding hunting and the use of headlights and street lights. Nautical twilight is when the stars are bright enough for ships to start using them to navigate by, and the sun is between six and twelve degrees below the horizon. Astronomical twilight is the true twilight, because with the sun at eighteen degrees below the horizon it's the true dusk between day and night. "

"Are those numbers hard and fast?" Sam asks, and rolls his eyes when Gabriel leers at the unintentional innuendo. "I mean, does the degree change closer to the poles or the equator?"

"That's another fun fact-the degrees don't change, but the time in those positions does. As a matter of fact, around the equinoxes each year the North Pole stays in a continuous state of civil twilight, with no nautical or astronomical twilight."

"That's actually really cool," Sam says, once again impressed by the amount of knowledge packed into Gabriel's head.

Gabriel grins at Sam, then pulls out his phone and starts tapping at it. Ed Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud starts playing and Gabriel sets the phone down as he pulls Sam up. "Dance with me, gorgeous."

Sam would never get tired of Gabriel's cheesy streak. They wrapped their arms around each other and swayed to the music under the light of the stars-nautical twilight, Sam thought-and rested his head on top of Gabriel's.  
\-----  
"Soooooo…" Charlie starts, trying to drag Sam's attention away from the Cisco switch he's trying to reprogram.

"So… what?" Sam asks, only half listening.

"So, has Gabriel made it to third base yet?"

Charlie's bluntness startles Sam, and he fat-fingers the keyboard on accident, screwing up the settings he just put in. He sighed, grabbed a bent paperclip, and jammed it into the factory reset hole on the front of the switch.

"Not that it's any of your business, but we're taking things slow," Sam says.

"Taking it slow is well and good when you guys have time, but aren't you guys on a clock here?" she asked pointedly. "I mean, you said so yourself, he's supposed to leave after Christmas for his next assignment. Have you guys even talked about that yet, or are you just going to string him along until he leaves?"

"I'm not stringing him along!" Sam snaps at her.

"Oh really?" Charlie stands up to him, a good head and a half shorts, and puts her hands on her hips. "You're not in the same self-preservation mode you've always been in, just pretending to give him a chance while keeping your heart safe?" She cocks a challenging eyebrow at him, and Sam deflates.

"I didn't think I was," Sam admits, defeated.

"Aw, Sammy, I'm sorry." Charlie hugs him, and Sam just leans into it. "Why don't you head out early, go let your omega out? Pamper yourself, buy yourself something nice, maybe masturbate."

"Charlie!" Now Sam's five shades of red.

"I'm just saying," she says, rolling her shoulders, then grinning wickedly at him. "Just go have a little fun."

Sam sighs. "Fine. I'll see you on Monday Charlie." He stops to give her a one-armed side hug and kiss her on top of the head.

"Say hi to your alpha for me," she smirks as he walks out, shaking his head.

He doesn't mean to, but as he leaves the parking garage he puts some thought into what Charlie said. When's the last time he even thought about his omega side? Sam's tried so hard to ignore secondary genders in general that it's barely a blip on his radar, hardly even an afterthought. That's good though, right? That secondary genders barely matter at all? Of course, it matters to a lot of people, which is why he hadn't been dating. But Gabriel doesn't bring up their secondary genders at all.

Sam's train of thought has derailed, and he shakes his head to try to clear it as he drives.

Letting his omega out, that's what Charlie said to do. He smiles and heads deeper into Panama City rather than away from it and back to the campgrounds where his trailer is at. He parks his truck in a paid lot in the El Cangrejo district and decides to walk around the shopping areas. He always thought of shopping as an 'omega sport', and since he tried to ignore his secondary gender he didn't go much for shopping. Well, it can't be much different than regular sightseeing, can it?

It was _definitely_ different than regular sightseeing.

Sam wishes he would have dragged Charlie along with him. He shoots off a text to her to see if she wants to meet up for tapas and drinks when she's done, and she responds she'll meet him at the Soho City Center in a few hours. With time to kill, he stops into a salon for a mani/pedi, and when they finish he wonders why he'd never indulged in it before, it was that nice. Feeling a little more buoyant, he actually traipses down the street, and he can't help but laugh thinking about what his brother would think of him if he could see him now.

Thinking of his brother, he heads into several kitschy tourist shops to find souvenirs for Dean, Cas, and Jack. He spends over an hour going through racks of tee shirts, locally made gifts, and other knickknacks. He ends up getting them each a shirt-one for Cas with the city's latitude and longitude, one for Dean that says 'Don't Be A Salty Beach', and one for Jack with a cartoon shark on it (since he's obsessed with that Baby Shark song). He also got a stack of postcards for his brother to add to their collection.

He barely makes it to the cantina he's meeting Charlie at, beating her by only a minute or two. He blushes as she fawns over his manicure, and then blushes some more when she coos over his blushing. They drink margaritas and swap stories of favorite contracts and towns they've visited. Charlie regales Sam of tales of ladies she's left in every town, and Sam can't help but laugh at her 'I can't help if chicks dig me' attitude. She reminds him a lot of his brother.

"So what else have you been up to today?" she asks him after the waiter brings them another basket of tortilla chips and salsa. Sam shows her the tee shirts, and she tsks at him. "What else have you done _for yourself?_ " When Sam just stares at her blankly, she just rolls her eyes and says, "That's what I thought. Come on."

She flags down their server for their bill, and she insists on paying the tab. Sam drops a few bills on the table for a tip before Charlie can react and she gives him the stink-eye before grinning at him and dragging him off down the plaza.

Before Sam can object, Charlie has dragged him into an Omega's Secret store. "When's the last time you let yourself feel pretty?" she asks him.

"I'm a guy, guy's aren't pretty, they're handsome." Sam scoffs. "And they don't wear stuff like this," he says, touching a slinky nightgown as Charlie pulls him past.

"Pull your head out of your ass, Winchester," she says, smacking his arm. "Regardless of primary or secondary gender, you can feel however the hell you want. Do you want to feel pretty?" She thrusts a catalog into Sam's hands and opens it up to the middle, pictures of male omegas wearing different types of lingerie. Sam doesn't answer Charlie's question, but flips through the pages. Some of the stuff is really frilly and girly and Sam can't picture himself wearing anything like this, not for himself and definitely not for anyone else. However, there are some pieces Sam would describe as softly masculine; dark-colored boy-short-cut panties in different fabrics from plain cotton to lace.

Maybe he can kill two birds with one stone-make himself feel pretty, and make it past third base with Gabriel.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy friends! I apologize for the delay, but I'd lost my job and was unable to do any writing (long story). Anywho, I am gainfully employed again, and I'm back and plan to get out some more writing when I can.
> 
> And in the meantime, enjoy some fluffy, smutty goodness!

Sam had texted Gabriel earlier about going out after work but he never received a response, so he hopes Gabriel went ahead and ate something without him. When he pulls up in front of their trailers, Gabriel is already outside throwing a tennis ball for Happy to chase, which he promptly abandons when Sam gets out of the truck. Sam laughs as Happy gets some good air jumping around and trying to eat Sam's fingers. He manages to catch the excited dog and tries to hug Happy as he licks Sam all over his face.

"Hey handsome!" Gabriel calls out as he walks towards Sam, smiling and chuckling at Happy's antics. He squishes Happy between himself and Sam as he hugs the taller man, making the dog go absolutely nuts. Now Happy can't decide whose face to lick, so it's like he's trying to lick everything at once, his tongue just lolling out as his head swivels from side to side. Sam leans over a bit so he can let Happy down, and when he does Gabriel plants a kiss on Sam's cheek. He then proceeds to sputter and spit and gripe about dog slobber, making Sam laugh so hard tears are leaking at the corner of his eyes.

Gabriel lifts the hem of his shirt to wipe off his face, and Sam gets a brief peek at Gabriel's tummy. It's not the most skin he's seen from Gabriel, but he still flushes after where his thoughts have been all afternoon. He turns to pull his bags from the passenger side of the truck, and knows the moment Gabriel spies the Omega's Secret bags when he hears Gabriel woot with cartoonish excitement.

"Didja get me a present?" Gabriel asks excitedly, trying to peek into the pink striped bags, "Didja? Didja? Didja?" Sam, however, just holds them over his head where Gabriel can't reach, which makes him pout and Sam laugh.

"Go grab us some beers," Sam tells him, trying to calm his nerves, "and maybe you'll get a fashion show." Gabriel sprints into his travel van and returns with two beers in less than ten seconds, a new record for him Sam muses. Gabriel stands in front of Sam wiggling more than Happy, and Sam can't help but relax.

Sam sets the bags (four of them) next to his lawn chair, and he and Gabriel chill out and talk about their days. Gabriel had been dragging out his interviews and research hoping to delay his departure, and tells Sam as much, worry written on his face. Sam just takes his hand and tells him they'll work something out, and conversation dies a comfortable death. The two just hold hands as the sun starts dipping into the water, sipping at the beers and enjoying the quiet companionship. When Sam feels it's dark enough, he lets go of Gabriel's hand, who looks at him with a questioning eyebrow arched, and picks up his bags. He plugs in the fairy lights and holds up a finger as he grins devilishly and slips inside his trailer. He hears Gabriel groan after he closes the door.

Sam empties his bags on his bed; granted, he didn't need four bags, but each piece was individually wrapped in tissue paper, necessitating the extra space. He lays out each piece as he unwraps them-some men's style briefs and short-leg boxer briefs in cotton and multiple colors, about half a dozen boy short-cut panties in various fabrics and colors, a few satin bikini cut panties trimmed in lace, a black satin and lace men's fit corset, a pair of thigh-high stockings with lace garters also in black, and a black silk robe. He's not sure if Gabriel will get to see all of it, but he picks out a pair of teal lace boy short panties and the robe before shoving everything else messily into a drawer. Gabriel can see these to start with.

Stripping down quickly, he gives himself a quick sniff. It's only about 70 degrees out so he hasn't been sweating, but B.O. is a definite mood-killer. He almost wishes he wasn't on suppressants so that Gabriel could smell his natural scent, but Sam wasn't that confident yet. He gently pulls the panties up and adjust his cock. Just another way he wasn't like an average omega, Sam sighs, but if Gabriel has been cool about his size up until now he hopefully won't be put off by an above-average omega penis. He wraps the robe around himself and takes a deep breath before opening the trailer door to beckon Gabriel inside. 

Gabriel is standing so close to the door, on his tippy-toes trying to see inside, that Sam knocks him over and he lands on his ass on the sand. Sam can't help but laugh. "You better make sure you don't bring any sand inside," he warns playfully before closing the door almost all the way. He can hear Gabriel scrambling to slap the sand off himself and talking to Happy as he tethers him to his doghouse.

"Gabey loves you, yes he does," Sam hears Gabriel coo to the little dog, "but you gotta stay out here like a big boy for a while while I get me some luvins. I promise, I'll let you back in after your daddy falls asleep." Sam can't help the warmth he feels in his chest as he hears Gabriel repeat to Happy how much he loves him and what a good boy he is. Any man that's so good to a little dog has to be a good man, right?

After another minute, Gabriel peeks his head in Sam's door, a hand covering his eyes. "Safe to come in?"

Sam laughs. He reaches out and scratches Gabriel under the chin, and in the same tone Gabriel used with Happy he coos playfully, "only if you're a good boy."

Gabriel drops his hand and gets a good, long look at Sam, from his bare feet and legs up to his satin-wrapped body and his big grin. "Arf!" Gabriel says playfully, and pretends to pant and beg. Sam laughs and plays along, scratching Gabriel behind his ears, and Gabriel starts thumping his leg. Gabriel's scent started filling the room, a warm honey whiskey that matched his eyes, with a hint of cinnamon that grew stronger by the minute. Sam recognizes it as Gabriel's arousal, but the shorter man doesn't push anything further with him than playful teasing. He grasps Gabriel's face between his large hands and looks him in the eyes, making him motionless with surprise. He gives Sam a goofy smile despite his pupils being blown with lust and completely obscuring his gold irises. 

How the hell can an alpha be so calm while lusting after an omega so badly? Sam knows Gabriel is a good man, but this is beyond anything he knew about any alpha, even his older brother who was the best alpha he knew.

"Sam?" Gabriel asks him, confused. Sam could only shake himself out of his awe for this man who wooed him with everything he had, made him feel like he, _Sam Winchester_ , was worthy because of _who_ he was, not _what_ he was. He kisses Gabriel with everything in him. Gabriel gets with the program quickly, wrapping his arms around Sam's waist tightly and kissing him with all the love he feels for the omega, and that's quite a bit. Sam feels like he's drowning in Gabriel. He almost can't breathe, the kisses so good and lasting so long. But Gabriel is still respectful, still keeping his hands over Sam's robe. It's slightly frustrating.

The close quarters inside the Airstream trailer puts everything in arm's reach, including the bed. With a growl, Sam pulls back, twists them around, and shoves Gabriel so he's now sitting on that bed. While Gabriel still stares at him, stunned, Sam unties the belt on the robe and lets it fall from his shoulders, revealing his bare body covered in nothing but that scrap of lace. The way Gabriel's eyes get large and round is almost comical. _Almost,_  and the longer he stares, the more nervous Sam gets. Sam can't begin to fathom what Gabriel could be thinking; Sam knows he's a good-looking guy, he keeps himself in shape, but he's nowhere near the size and shape of an ideal omega. Is Gabriel beginning to doubt wooing him? Is he thinking he'd gotten in over his head with the larger man?

"Holy shit," Gabriel whispers, his hand reaching out and torn between touching Sam's perfect skin or trying to be respectful. Sam just rolls his eyes and steps forward into Gabriel's touch, and the alpha attacks. His arms snake out to wrap around Sam's waist and drag him closer. The alpha's lips, tongue, and teeth work at Sam's hips just at the waistband of the panties, while his hands can't seem to decide where to go, so they try to go everywhere. Sam just rests his hands on Gabriel's shoulders and lets the man feast on his skin, letting his head tilt back and his eyes slip close.

Gabriel's hands find purpose, running his palms up Sam's back and dragging the omega down on top of him. Sam just barely catches himself with a hand to each side of Gabriel's head, but almost looses it when he sucks one dusky nipple into his mouth. Sam can't help the moan that escapes his throat and that only eggs Gabriel on. 

"You're delicious, Sammy," Gabriel says, punctuating his statement by sucking hard on the nipple in his mouth. Sam's definitely enjoying the attention, but is still frustrated by Gabriel's glacial pace.

"You're wearing too many clothes," he says. He grabs the hem of Gabriel's shirt and pulls, and Gabriel sits up enough let him pull it off. Sitting up with Sam in his lap seems like a grand idea, so he uses his alpha strength to scooch and pull Sam into the position he wants, leaning against one wall with his legs straight out and Sam sitting on his jean-clad erection. When Sam grinds down Gabriel lets his own moan out and just holds Sam tighter, redoubling his efforts on Sam's nipples, sucking and biting on the left while rolling the right one between his thumb and forefinger, making Sam squirm even more.

"Gabriel," Sam whines, "your pants."

"What about my pants?" Gabriel asks innocently, moving his mouth to Sam's right nipple.

"You need to get rid of them." It's a breathless demand, and Gabriel's not keen on relinquishing his hold on Sam to obey it. Nevertheless, he could never deny Sam anything. With a quick motion, Gabriel spreads his legs and pushes Sam backwards so he's lying on his back. He moves Sam's hands up to his nipples and says, "keep those warm for me," winking as he throws his legs over Sam and off the bed so he can stand up. Sam obeys, and Gabriel watches as Sam's thumbs rub over his nipples while he hurries to shuck his jeans.

Sam's head lolls to the side to watch Gabriel, and stifles a snort when he sees the alpha's novelty boxers. The left pant leg has a hand with the pointer finger pointing up, with a sign below it that says The Man; the right pant leg has a similar hand pointing to his crotch, with a sign declaring The Legend. The boxers are tented obscenely, and Gabriel bounces his eyebrows and smirks. "You wanted the full Gabriel Milton experience, you're getting it," he says playfully.

Sam just rolls his eyes then rolls over and presents, the teal lace darkened several shades by the amount of slick leaking from him. He wiggles his hips a little and says, "Well, if you want the full Sam Winchester experience, then you'd better hurry up and get back over here."

Sam's nowhere near prepared for Gabriel to bury his face against his lace-clad ass. The alpha starts lewdly sucking at Sam's hole through his panties like he's the tastiest dessert he's ever had, and he drops his shoulders to the bed and groans. Gabriel's hands massage Sam's gorgeous ass, pulling the lace to one side and his cheeks apart to get to the source of his slick.

" _Gabe_ ," Sam whines. The more Gabriel eats him out, the closer Sam is to losing it before the main event, and he doesn't want that. "If you're not in me in the next ten seconds, I'm going to knock you on your ass and ride you until I'm done, whether you are or not."

Gabriel honest-to-goodness _growls_ like some sort of feral animal, and Sam _likes it_. Before he knows what's happening, Gabriel literally rips the underwear from his body and thrusts two fingers into Sam's soaked hole. The last time he'd been penetrated by anything other than his own fingers and his one fake knot was almost two decades prior, and he forgot how damn good it felt. It feels even better with Gabe's tongue lapping at the slick dripping down his thighs and between his cheeks. A third finger joins in, and when Sam pushes his hips back for more Gabriel's fingers hit his prostate. All higher brain function has been cancelled on account of Gabriel's magic fingers.

When Gabriel can feel Sam's insides fluttering around his fingers, he pulls them out, ignoring Sam's whine at the loss, and flips the omega over. He leans over Sam and grinds their dicks together. The friction is good, but not what Sam wants. Before he can make another comment about the lack of dick inside him, Gabriel gently runs his fingers through Sam's hair and the look in his eyes is asking Sam if he's sure he wants to keep going. Sam nods, silently begging him to go on, and in one long, slow thrust Gabriel buries himself in Sam's tight ass. Neither man breaks eye contact as Gabriel slides home, and Sam can't help but feel a jolt of _some_ emotion from the look of naked awe on Gabriel's face.

" _Move_ ," Sam whispers, but Gabriel shakes his head.

"This is Heaven, Sam," Gabriel says softly, still stroking Sam's hair. "I need a minute or I'm gonna blow." He closes his eyes and takes a few deep breaths to calm himself. Sam is too keyed up and doesn't want Gabriel calm, so he gives a dirty grind of his hips against Gabe's, then all bets are off.

Gabriel threads his fingers through Sam's hair and with a firm grip yanks Sam's head back and sucks at his scent gland as he gives short, sharp thrusts of his hips, jabbing at Sam's prostate. Sam's howling at the onslaught of sensation, hands scrabbling at Gabriel's back. He tries to match Gabe thrust for thrust, trying to get the knot that's already forming at the base of the alpha's cock, but Gabriel growls again and pushes his hips down to try to hold Sam still. All Sam can do is lie back and take what Gabriel gives him, and it's glorious.

"Not gonna last, Sam," Gabriel pants. His knot is already tugging at Sam's rim on every thrust. "You want my knot, Sammy? Want me to knot you? Want me to-"

" _Yes!_ " Sam cries, his own orgasm about to hit. Gabriel growls again and his lips are back at Sam's neck, sucking a dark purple bruise over the sensitive gland there as he grinds against Sam's ass until his knot pops in and he comes with a feral scream. Sam follows him over the edge with a high-pitched keen, dick untouched, shooting thin ropes of white between them.

Gabriel practically passes out on top of Sam, breathing hard as he comes down from his high. As soon as his limbs start working again he wraps his arms around Sam and tries to flip them over, but Sam tenses in his grip.

"Not pulling out, Sam," he coos, trying to soothe him, "just rolling us over so you can get more comfortable." Sam relaxes minutely, and Gabriel rolls them so Sam is on top. He  hugs Sam tightly and waits for him to relax before pulling his knees up and planting his feet so that Sam can sit up and lean back against his thighs. "You okay, Samshine?" he asks softly, running his hands over Sam's shoulders and chest, trying to reassure the omega.

Sam squeezes his eyes shut and focuses on his breathing. Gabe's not trying to push him away. Gabe's not gonna pull out before his knot goes down. Gabe's not going to hurt him. He lets out a deep breath and nods. When he opens his eyes, Gabriel is petting his face and smiling at him.

"You're amazing," he says, running one finger down Sam's cheek. "You're gorgeous and strong and so amazing, Sammy."

Sam smiles at him; Gabriel's pretty damn amazing, too. "I think I like the full Gabriel Milton experience," he says, and they both laugh, hands joining as they relax and wait out Gabriel's knot.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise, I'm still alive! Besides mandatory overtime, I've also been indulging in astronomy (hufflepuffobservatory.space) and cooking. Honestly, I have very little time to write anymore, but right now I have so much to do I don't know where to start, so I'm taking a break to write.

Sam comes to consciousness slowly. Honestly, he thinks the only reason he's waking up now is because it's getting difficult to breathe. There's a weight on his chest that's almost crushing his lungs, and a wet spot spreading on his naked chest. Opening his eyes, he sees the weight crushing him is Gabriel, and the wetness is due to the alpha drooling in his sleep. He can't help but smile at that, despite the lack of air getting to his lungs. He carefully tries to shift Gabriel to one side to relieve the pressure, but she shorter man just crawls further on top of him and buries his head under Sam's chin. He also digs a knee into Sam's bladder as he tries to hold on to his omega, and Sam's done for; he gracelessly pushes Gabriel off of him so he can get to the bathroom.

"Whu?" Gabriel whines, now more than half awake.

Sam laughs as he closes the small bathroom's door behind him. Pressure relieved from his bladder, he grabs his toothpaste, toothbrush, and pill bottles from the cabinet behind the mirror. As he's brushing he reads the label on his suppressants, thinking. He'd specifically chosen to take separate suppressants and birth control pills because the hormone combinations of the two-in-ones were rough on his system and gave him migraines. Taking the FreMega suppressants in combination with a synthetic hormone birth control was much easier on him. If he wanted to let Gabriel have the _full Sam Winchester experience_ , he could stop his suppressants and just keep taking his birth control, right? The label on the FreMega said so, though it said to see side effects on the company website. He'll look that up later, he thinks as he puts the suppressants back in the cabinet, rinses out the toothpaste foam, and swallows down his birth control pill with a quick gulp of water.

He thinks about how long the suppressants will take to wear off, but his mind screeches to a halt when he exits the bathroom to find Gabriel in a cheesy porn pose on the bed. 

"Good morning, Gorgeous," Gabriel says, bouncing his eyebrows. "What would you like for breakfast?"

Sam laughs; Gabriel has _got_ to be the strangest, cheesiest, most adorable alpha he's ever met. "I don't know," he replies cheekily as he moves next to the bed. "What do _you_ want for breakfast?"

Gabriel puts a finger to his chin and furrows his brow in thought before a wicked grin spreads across his face. "Sausage!"

Before Sam knows what's happening, Gabriel has leaned over and swallowed his cock almost to the base. Sam falls forward over Gabriel, bracing his hands on the bed behind his alpha as Gabriel curls into him to wrap an arm around his waist, pulling him so he can get as much of Sam's cock down his throat as possible.

 _His_ alpha?!? The thought is sucked out through his dick before he can dwell on it. Gabriel works his lips up and down Sam's shaft at an amazing pace, his tongue curling just underneath the head and occasionally dipping into the slit. Sam groans and tries to keep his knees steady, but only manages to lean his thighs against the mattress and put more weight on his hands. Gabriel groans at the movement and uses the arm around Sam's waist to encourage the omega to fuck his face, which Sam thinks is a great idea. He rolls his hips, watching as his dick slides between the alpha's lips, and it's almost too much for him. Just as he's about to stop to catch his breath, Gabriel lets out a filthy moan and that's it, game over. Sam whines as he floods Gabriel's mouth with cum, then promptly topples onto him.

Gabriel looks at Sam with a grin and says "Good morning," cocky grin spreading across his face and Sam can't help but chuckle through panting breaths. Gabriel pulls Sam back down to get him back into bed, but Sam lands on him and they both grunt and giggle at that. As they rearrange to get more comfortable, Gabriel pinches Sam's ass, and Sam lets out a girlish yelp before they both settle.

"What's on your agenda for today?" Sam asks him, pulling him closer.

"Work," Gabriel replies with an exaggerated sigh, "and not the fun kind. I'll be sitting at my laptop all day getting my first draft done, and I gotta get it to my editor by..." Gabriel closes his eyes as he does some mental math, but gives up, "four o'clock in D.C. What about you?"

"Work," Sam replies with the same put-upon airs as Gabriel. "Cutover is at the end of the month for the main building, then Charlie and I need to travel to the satellite offices after the first of the year to get the WAN up and running. Honestly, we probably won't finish until mid-March, then we've gotta stick around for a few more weeks to babysit it and make sure nothing goes haywire. There's almost always group policy problems with new hardware and firewalls."

Gabriel smiles and nods with a glazed expression on his face. With a quick peck to Sam's lips, he grudgingly rolls out of bed. "You enjoy your techno mumbo jumbo, Gorgeous. I'm gonna go check on our boy and get the coffee started." Without a stitch of clothing on, Gabriel leaves Sam's travel trailer for his own, and Sam can hear Happy going nuts outside. 

 _Our_ boy. _His_ alpha. When and how did his and Gabriel's lives become so entwined? Thinking back to the unused suppressants in his bathroom and the fact Gabriel would be heading back to D.C. the day after Christmas, he was rethinking his plan to give Gabriel the _full Sam Winchester experience_.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy friends! Have another chapter :)

Sam tries to sneak into the office without alerting Charlie to his presence because he doesn't really want to go through an interrogation after their little shopping trip. He doesn't see her and thinks he's succeeded when he's started by her sneaking up behind him.

"Samuel," she says sweetly and overly-cheerful, "you are positively glowing today. Did you have a good evening?" Her smile is both knowing and predatory.

"It was fine, Charlie," he replies. He's trying to keep a straight face, but his grin keeps trying to escape.

"Just _fine_?" She seems almost disappointed. "Well that's a damned shame." 

Sam's not one to kiss and tell, but maybe his inner omega is peeking out a little too much because he feels a slight need to gossip. "It was more than fine," he tries to say with a straight face. Charlie perks up and gives a little squeal as she starts bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet.

"O-M-G, I want deets Winchester! Did your alpha get to see any of the goodies you bought? Did he drool over the amazingness that is you? Did you bump uglies?" Charlie scrunches up her nose, then waves her hand in front of her face. "Scratch that last one. I gotta know though, are you happy Sam?"

Sam looks down at his keyboard with a smile on his face and thinks about it. The past couple months getting to know Gabriel, spending time with him, was great all on its own. But getting closer to the alpha, being wooed by him and learning he could trust him, being taken care of by him, this is the happiest Sam can remember being in a long time.

"Yeah, I'm happy," he tells her with a genuine smile. "I'm happy." Then with a devlish smirk that would make Gabriel proud, he adds " _Repeatedly_ happy."

"Attaboy Sammy!" Charlie says, slapping his arm. "Now let's get this shiz done so we can start planning for Thanksgiving!"

\-----

The week goes by in a blur for Sam-between busy days at work and _busy_ nights with Gabriel, his head is spinning. Maybe too literally at times. According to the FreMega website, dizziness is one of the side effects of just stopping his suppressant. It's not bad, just a little vertigo at times if he stands up too fast or stands for too long, but the longer he goes without taking them the more the dizziness subsides. Charlie was really worried the first time Sam stood up and staggered to one side, having to balance himself against his desk to keep from toppling over. He had to come clean to her about stopping his suppressants, and she pulled him into an office-appropriate happy dance.

"So what does your alpha think about you stopping your suppressants?" she asks once they flop back into their chairs.

"Okay, first of all, he's not _my_ anything," Sam says pointedly, to which Charlie snorts, but he keeps going. "Second, it's my body, I don't have to share anything about it with anyone if I don't want to. Gabriel has always been cool with that and has never pushed me to talk about my secondary gender or anything I don't want to talk about, actually."

Charlies sighs. "Oh Sam, it's gonna involve him eventually. What are you going to do when you go into heat? I mean, your suppressants weren't super heavy duty or anything, but you've been on them for so long that the next one you have is gonna be a bitch. And who knows when it will hit? What are you going to do if it shows up after Gabriel leaves? I mean, you've been on them for over a decade now, so it could take some time to work out of your system, and he's only here for another month." She puts her hands on Sam's shoulders and gives him a look. "You didn't really think this through, did you?"

No, he really didn't, he thinks to himself. What if Charlie's right? What if Gabriel leaves before his heat hits? He'll have to go through it alone, and he'd be a sitting duck for any alpha who came near his trailer. What the fuck was he thinking?!? 

"Slow your brain, Sammy," Charlie tells him. "Breathe. I can see you starting to over think. Just don't right now, okay? You just gotta talk to your man and let him know, I'm sure he'll make sure he's around to take care of you. He's done that since the beginning, right?" Sam breathes in through his nose and out through his mouth a couple times, then nods. "Just talk to him, okay? Promise me."

Sam nods again. "I promise."

"Good, because I'm sure Gabriel will be totally cool with it. He's been totally cool with everything else, right?"

This time, Sam smiles. "Yeah, he has. Thanks, Charlie."

"Anytime," she says with a grin. "Now get back to work! The sooner these firewalls are programmed the sooner we can go on our whirlwind tour of Panama!" Charlie spreads her arms out and gives a little twirl between the boxes of Cisco routers stacked around them. Sam laughs, and they get back to it.

\-----

While Panama doesn't officially celebrate Thanksgiving, there are so many ex-pats in the capital that the government buildings are closed for the day. Sam and Gabriel are preparing food for their makeshift Thanksgiving dinner, for which Charlie will be joining them later. Gabriel is turning corn on the grill, while Sam has a turkey on a smoker outside and potatoes cooking on his small stove. He also picked up a pie for Gabriel since the man has an insatiable sweet tooth, but refused to tell him what kind, wanting to surprise him with his favorite cherry pie from the local panaderia. Happy keeps running between the two men with his tennis ball, and they take turns throwing it for him. They're laughing and flirting and having fun, and Sam is happy. That's his reasoning for not talking to Gabriel about stopping his suppressants yet. He's too worried about what Gabriel might think, so he just keeps putting it off. He really should tell him soon, before Charlie accidentally spills the news.

Gabriel is chasing Happy down the beach when Sam's phone goes off. He picks it up to see it's a FaceTime call from Cas. He slides his finger across the screen and gives his brother-in-law a "Happy Thanksgiving."

"And you as well, Sam," Castiel replies. 

"Happy Thanksgiving, Uncle Sam!" Jack says loudly, bouncing around behind his papa trying to be seen on the screen, and Sam laughs.

"Happy Thanksgiving Jack! What are you up to?" Sam asks.

"Dad let me help make the pies this year!" Jack says happily. "We made a pecan pie and an apple pie! And Papa is going to make the cranberry sauce!"

"You'd better get on that, Cas," Dean says as he walks into the room while drying his hands on a dish towel. He swipes the phone from Cas' hand and gives him a smack on the ass, getting a laugh from Sam and a withering look from his husband. Jack just grabs Cas' hand and drags him into the kitchen, begging to let him help.

"Hey, little brother," Dean says. "Happy Thanksgiving."

"You too, man. Who all is coming to dinner this year?" 

"Bobby and Rufus are, of course, because any excuse to get together and drink, you know?" Dean and Sam both laugh at that. "Benny, Andrea, and the girls will be here, too. Everyone else has other plans this year. How about you?"

Sam thinks about how much to tell Dean. On the one hand, his brother would be happy for him. On the other hand, Dean's been known to get a little overprotective of Sam.

"Just having a couple people over today. I told you about Charlie from work? She's gonna be here. She brought over a smoker earlier this week and I've already got it set up with the turkey going."

"Who else?" Dean asks, and Sam realizes he's gonna have to tell his brother about Gabriel.

"Well, my short blonde will be here, no big deal," Sam hedges, hoping Dean will drop it. Of course he doesn't.

"That's my boy!" Dean laughs. "So, tell me about her. I don't know a damned thing going on in your life right now, so throw me a bone."

Sam sighs, but tries to be cheerful when he smiles and says, "His name is Gabriel."

Dean's laughter stops and he looks at Sam through the phone. The silence is awkward. Finally, Dean clears his throat and tries again.

"So, uh... you're dating a guy? I mean, not that I have a problem with that, obviously, because, you know, me and Ca, but it's just that I haven't seen you date a guy since Brady. Is this guy an alpha, too?" Dean goes from rambling to overprotective big brother in less than three seconds.

"Calm down, Dean, Gabriel's a good guy. And yes, he's an alpha."

"Are you sleeping with him?" Dean asks point blank.

Sam huffs. "I don't see how any of that is your business, Dean."

"Of course it's my business!" Dean shouts, getting angrier by the second. "You're my little brother, it's my responsibility to watch out for you and take care of you."  
"News flash, Dean," Sam says, his own anger growing, "I'm not little anymore, I'm bigger than you. And I can take care of myself. I have since college, and I've done a good job of it so far."

"Because you got lucky! You've stayed away from alpha guys because they're idiot knotheads that can't control themselves!"

"Like you?" Sam says innocently.

"Yes! I mean, no! I mean, you know what I mean!"

"No, I don't Dean, because it sounds a lot like you think I'm a weak omega who doesn't know how to take care of himself, but that can't be it because you raised me better than that!"

Both men were furious now, but before either one can say anything else, Sam hears Gabriel yell, "Hey Sammy, was that pie you got apple? Because it smells like it's burning."

Dean's mouth dropped open in shock. "You-"

"Don't say it, Dean," Sam growled at his brother in warning.

"You stopped your fucking suppressants?!? The fuck are you thinking dude? You are just asking for-"

Sam ends the call right there before his brother says something he'll regret. Throwing his phone onto his beach chair, he stomps into his trailer to check on the food. He wishes he'd bought apple pie instead of cherry, because now he was going to have to tell Gabriel about the suppressants whether he was ready or not.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh lookie, another chapter! I'm on a roll today!

"Sam?" Gabriel came into Sam's Airstream trailer, concerned not just by the smell of burnt apple pie but by Sam slamming things around. At the sound of his voice, Sam stopped slamming things, but still didn't respond. 

"Hey, Samshine, it's okay. I'm sure the pie is salvageable." Sam turned to face Gabriel, who gave him a weak smile.

 _It's now or never_ , Sam thinks. He pulls the perfect cherry pie from the oven and sets it on the small table and says, "The pie is just fine."

Gabriel gets a whiff of the pie and smells the warm cherry filling, and looks at Sam confused. "Did you throw the apple pie away? Because you  know we could have just scraped the filling out and had fun with it later." Gabriel grinned and bounced his eyebrows, and Sam couldn't help but laugh.

"There isn't any apple pie, Gabe," Sam tells him. He's definitely feeling self-conscious, but he pushes through anyways. "It's me."

"You?"

"Yeah, I smell like apples when I'm not on suppressants." Sam takes a breath and waits.

Realization dawns over Gabriel's face. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Without directly smelling his mating gland, Gabriel leans forward slightly and takes a sniff. He thinks a moment, then says, "Who pissed you off and do I need to have them taken out? Because in my line of work, I happen to know a few guys who could make it happen."

Sam laughs and wraps his arms around Gabriel, who just hugs him right back. The burnt apple pie smell still lingers, but it is slowly being replaced by fresh Granny Smith apples. Now Gabriel actually presses his nose against Sam's neck and takes a deep breath.

"Oh Sammy, you smell as delicious as you look," Gabriel says, slightly awed.

"You're not upset I didn't tell you I stopped taking my suppressants?"

Gabriel shrugged. "Not really, I mean, it's your body, I don't get a say. But we are gonna have to talk about what it means for us. Right after I taste you without any chemicals in the way."

Sam was about to reply to that when Gabriel spun him around, bent him over the bed, and pulled Sam's pants down around his knees. He yelped when he felt Gabe pull his cheeks apart and drive his tongue into his hole. It was such a dominant, alpha thing to do, and Sam should have been appalled, but he was too turned on by Gabe's show of strength and speed, not to mention the man's tongue fucking him like it was a gold medal event.He could feel himself getting slick, and Gabriel moaned as he licked it straight from the source.

"Taste so good, Gorgeous," Gabriel said between licks, "like a sour apple Jolly Rancher. I could eat you all the time and never want anything else ever again." He stopped talking and pressed his lips to Sam's hole, sucking the slick out and making Sam whine in pleasure. Soon, two fingers joined Gabe's tongue, pumping in and out and making slick flow everywhere. Gabriel tried his hardest not to lose a single drop, but it was a losing battle. Gabriel coated his hand in slick and reached around to tug on Sam's rock hard dick, stroking him in time with the thrusts of his tongue. Sam's orgasm was coming up on him too fast, making him dizzy with both pleasure and lack of oxygen from his heavy breathing. Before he could warn Gabriel, he was coming. _Hard_. Ropes of cum splattered the sheet on the bed as slick squirted from Sam's hole, drenching Gabriel's face. The alpha didn't stop though, just kept licking up as much slick as he could, cradling Sam's balls as the omega panted through his orgasm. 

And then there was a bang on the door.

"You guys okay in there?" Charlie yelled. "It smells like someone dropped a case of Apple Crown Royal."

Sam laughed, then moaned as Gabriel sucked at his hole one more time. "We'll be right out Charlie," Sam croaked. He heard a loud "Ewwwwww" from her, then a chuckle from Gabriel. Sam turned to see Gabriel wiping his shiny face with his sleeve.

"You need me to take care of that for you?" Sam asked Gabe, his hand waving in the general direction of his crotch.

Gabriel laughed. "Nah, I'm good Sammy." Sam turned around and saw a huge wet spot spreading across the front of Gabe's clothes. "Haven't popped a knot in my pants since I was a teenager, but _damn_ you taste good!" Sam actually felt proud about that. He rolled to the side of the bed without the wet spot and pulled Gabe in, kissing him and tasting his slick on Gabriel's face. He'd never done something like that before, but it was filthy and kinda hot; yet another thing Sam was learning about himself.

"Let's get cleaned up," Sam whispered, pulling away from Gabriel. "We'll go again after Charlie leaves." Gabriel laughed and kissed Sam again. Everything was going to be okay.

\-----

When they finally emerge from the Airstream thirty minutes later, freshly showered and wearing clean clothes (even if Gabriel was practically swimming in Sam's shirt and shorts), they find Charlie laid out in Sam's beach chair with Happy laying on top of her, paws on her shoulders and head laying against her head.

"Hey lovebirds," Charlie teases. "Next time you wanna get freaky, make sure you're not cooking anything. I saved the turkey before it dried out."

"Oh shit, thanks Charlie!" Sam says, face flushed pink from embarrassment this time.

"No problemo, Samuel. By the way," she says to Gabriel, holding out her hand, "Charlie Bradbury."

"Gabriel Milton," Gabe replies, shaking her hand. They both pause mid-shake with a _shit_ under their breaths.

"You guys okay?" Sam asks. Both his friend and his-whatever-are looking at each other in curiosity and a little bit of... _fear?_

"You wanna tell him or should I, _your highness_?" Gabriel asks Charlie pointedly.

Now Sam was really confused. "Your highness?"

Charlie looks thoroughly abashed, like she'd been caught stealing cookies from the cookie jar. "Well, I'm not just a freelance on-site tech. I might also be a freelance hacker?" It sounded like a question, but her face said she was worried about Sam's reaction.

"And you know her how?" Sam turns to Gabriel to ask.

"I might have met her while doing an expose on Anonymous?" Gabriel hedges, looking and acting very much like Charlie.

"Long story, probably best saved for after dinner, yeah?" Charlie says hopefully. "By the way!" Charlie changes the subject before Sam can argue. "You phone was going off like crazy. There were, like, a dozen missed calls and a couple dozen texts from Dean. You were 'busy', so I just turned your phone off. Long story short, he says he's coming to kick your ass."

Maybe it was coming off his suppressants, maybe it was the sex, maybe it was all the new information he was taking in, maybe it was thinking of pissing off his brother enough that he'd actually get on a plane, or any combination of those things that made Sam pass the fuck out.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact-I'm not a medical professional, I just pretend to be one when I'm writing. Remember, this is fiction.

When Sam comes to, he notices several things. He's no longer at his trailer, but in what appears to be a hospital. It's also dark outside; not just sunset-dark, but full-night dark. His whole body is hot and it hurts, and he has an IV in his arm. Gabriel and Charlie are cuddled up together on the small couch in the room, both fast asleep. For some reason, that makes him feel even worse; his vision goes blurry and he can barely hear the monitors beeping like crazy. Gabriel and Charlie are jolted awake by the noise, and Gabriel grabs Charlie's hand to comfort her. Sam doesn't see that though. His inner omega is howling-his mate should be holding _his_ hand, not Charlie's. His hindbrain is in control and Sam's lips curl in a snarl, shocking his friends. 

A nurse comes in then, and everyone's attention turns to her. Sam smells omega, and he lunges at her. ( _My mate!)_

"Whoa, Gorgeous!" Gabriel finally jumps into action, wrapping his arms around Sam. ( _That's right, my mate wants_ ME.)

"What's wrong with him?" Charlie asks the nurse, putting herself between Sam and the perceived threat. 

"Are you family?" the nurse asks pointedly, unsure if she should be giving just anyone information about Sam's health.

"We are," a voice comes from the hallway. Sam froze. ( _No, no, no, no, no!_ )

Dean walks into the room, tugging his ten-year-old son behind him. He looked fit to kill, and Sam shrank into the bed. He whines and bares his neck to his brother, surprising both Gabriel and Charlie.

"And your relation?" the nurse asks. 

"He's my brother," Dean says, then tugs Jack forward. "And this little devil is my son. Jack, tell the lady what you did."

Everyone's eyes land on Jack, who's looking at the ground like he wants to cry.

"JACK!" 

At his father's enraged voice, Jack does cry. "I just wanted a baby brother," he howls through his tears. "Uncle Luc said if I took Uncle Sam's little pink pills and put some other ones in the bottle, then he'd have another baby."

"The little shit replaced Sam's birth control pills with sugar pills, courtesy of his lunatic uncle," Dean explains to the nurse.

"That explains a lot, actually," she tells Dean, not worrying about everyone else in the room. "Your brother was previously taking FreMega, which would have helped metabolize the sugar pills. When he stopped taking it, his system was overwhelmed by the excess sugar. Combine that with his thyroid and pancreas trying to adjust to the change of hormone levels, he went into a type of diabetic shock."

"I'm sorry Uncle Sam!" Jack wails. He tries to get out of his dad's grip to go to his uncle, but Dean holds firm. Gabriel gives Sam a squeeze before letting him go ( _No! Don't go!_ ) and crouching down in front of Jack.

"Hey buddy," Gabriel says with a smile, trying to calm the crying child. "Your Uncle Sam knows you love him and wouldn't do anything to hurt him on purpose. Right?" Jack's crying slows but it doesn't stop as he nods in agreement. "But when your dad says no to something, he's not trying to be mean. I promise. If your dad says no, he has a very good reason. When you don't listen to him, accidents like this happen. Got that buddy?" Jack nods again, then looks up at his dad with those big puppy dog eyes that Dean always swears he somehow inherited from Sam.

Through Gabriel's little speech, Sam stares at how kind and gentle Gabriel is with his little nephew. His omega whines at the sight, bringing everyone's attention back to Sam.

"Unfortunately," the nurse tells Dean, "he's going into heat, and after being on FreMega for as long as he has it's going to be a rough one. Does he have a mate or someone to take care of him?"

"No," Dean says, at the same time Gabriel says "Yes." Dean and Gabriel stare each other down ( _Oh no, his brother is threatening his mate!_ ), and Charlie jumps into action.

"Hey Jack," she says, getting right down on Jack's level. "I'm your Uncle Sam's friend, Charlie. You wanna go to the cafeteria and get something to eat? That way your dad can help your Uncle Sam get better." At Charlie's words, Sam whines and Gabriel actually growls. She doesn't wait a moment longer, just grabs Jack by the hand and drags him out of the room. The nurse just looks between the two alphas before shaking her head.

"You two will need to figure something out, and fast. If he's been suppressing for a decade, then all of his omega instincts and hormones are going to overwhelm him. He's not going to be able to ride this out on his own, he's going to need an alpha with him the entire time." At her words, Sam whines again. Gabriel tries to go to him, but Dean catches his arm.

"If I didn't already smell Sam all over you, I'd kick your ass outta here. But if he chose you before his heat, then he'd probably choose you now." Dean lets Gabriel go and scrubs his hands down his face. "If I ever find out you hurt him, they will never find your body, do you understand?" Gabriel never drops eye contact when he nods his assent. 

"He can't leave the hospital until the doctor discharges him," the nurse tells the men, "but we can have him moved to a heat-proof room. Will he want a birth control shot since he was on placebos?"

"Yes," Gabriel tells her, eyes still locked on Dean. "If he was under the assumption he was still taking birth control pills, that means he has no intention of getting pregnant right now. I'm not going to put him into the position where that might happen against his will." 

Dean nods at Gabriel, then leaves the room. Sam couldn't be happier ( _My mate challenged my brother and my mate won!_ ). Now all that he needed was to get his mate to that heat-proof room and he'd be okay.

\-----

"Dad!" Jack calls out as he runs up to Dean, Charlie tagging along behind him. "Aunt Charlie got me a sopapilla! It's like a little donut cloud with honey and sugar! Papa needs to try one because he loves honey!"

Dean chuckles and gives his son a noogie, making him laugh. "Aunt Charlie, huh?" Dean asks, looking at the petite redhead, who just shrugs and smiles.

"Just go with it," she says. She holds her hand out to Dean. "Charlie Bradbury, I work with Sam."

"Dean Winchester," he replies, shaking Charlie's hand. "Thanks for watching out for him. I just wish you woulda kept that alpha prick away from him."

"Hey! I'll have you know that Gabriel is a good man and a good alpha. He takes good care of Sam, and Sam is happy with him." 

"You wouldn't say that if you knew anything about him," Dean says grimly.

"Oh you mean about Brady?" she asks, and Dean looks flabbergasted because Sam _never_ talks about Brady. "Yeah, Sam told me all about that knothead. More importantly, he told Gabriel about him, too, so you can bet that Gabriel will do his best to NOT be like Brady. Capiche?"

"Yeah, I capiche." Dean sighs. "I just worry about him, ya know?"

"Because you're a good big brother," Charlie tells him. "Sam talks about you all the time, and I can tell he wouldn't be as strong or independent if you hadn't been there for him. So just trust him now. And if you can, trust Gabriel."

"Don't have a choice right now, do I?" Dean grumps.

"Nope!" Charlie just smiles and helps Dean herd Jack out of the hallway. No way should a kid be around when his uncle's about to go into his first heat in ten years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter-heat sex FTW! WOOHOO!


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heat sex-'nuff said.

Sam doesn't care that he's hooked up to an IV. And he doesn't give two shits that the nurses want to wheel him to the heat-proof room in a wheelchair. He grabs the pole with the banana bag with one hand and Gabriel with the other and practically storms out of the room, ass flapping in the breeze and hard cock tenting his hospital gown obscenely. Gabriel reaches forward to try to close the hospital gown as Sam scans the hallway, trying to find his way.

"This way," the nurse says, leading him down the hallway. Sam follows, and all eyes and noses turn towards him as they rush down the corridor. The nurse badges in at a set of heavy steel double doors and Sam pushes through them before they're fully open. The nurse gets in front of them again and opens a door to the left, ushering the men inside. She leaves as soon as they're in, shutting the door behind them.

"Sammy," Gabriel tries, but it's no use, Sam is too far gone.

With inhuman strength, Sam literally _rips_ the clothing from Gabriel's body; shirt torn down the middle and jeans thoroughly destroyed. Before Gabriel can get his shoes off, Sam picks Gabriel up and throws him onto the bed, snarling the entire time. He climbs on top of Gabriel's thighs and tries to rip the alpha's boxer shorts off of him, but he's having a hard time with the elastic band. He howls, frustrated, before grabbing the flaps below and pulling them until they rip open, leaving Gabriel exposed with the elastic band still intact. 

"Sonofabitch Sammy!" Gabriel croaks. His omega's show of strength is a major turn-on for the shorter man. His own cock is already more than half mast, but it's obviously not enough for Sam as the omega bends over and sucks Gabriel down, his mouth and hands working him fast and sloppy until he's so hard it hurts. When Sam is satisfied that Gabriel is hard enough, he pulls back and just drops down on Gabriel's cock without any warning or prep. Sam howls in pleasure and rides Gabriel hard and fast, chasing that first release. Gabriel just grasps Sam's hips and holds on for the ride, trying his damnedest not to blow before Sam gets his.

Sam's thighs are flexing as he works himself up and down Gabriel's dick, and Gabriel can't help but drop his hands to them, feeling the muscles work under Sam's skin. He watches Sam's face as the omega takes what he wants from him, watches how his expression changes from frustration to pure pleasure. Sam is absolutely gorgeous, and Gabriel is in more than a little awe of this man. Sam looks like he's getting close, his brow furrowing like he can't get what he needs.

"Come on, Sam!" Gabriel growls. "Take what you want. You want my knot? Then take it!"

The encouragement works-for both of them. Sam howls in rage and redoubles his efforts, which turns Gabriel on so much that his knot is swelling at an exponential rate. He's not gonna hold back anymore, he's gonna make sure Sam gets what he wants.

"That's it Sam!" Gabriel pants. His knot is popping in and out of Sam's rim now, the delicious pressure ensuring they've only got seconds before they're locked together. "C'mon, take it!" Gabriel yells at him as his knot fully inflates and he's coming harder than he ever has in his life.

Sam is right there with him, screaming as his rim tightens down around Gabriel's knot and his dick erupts, painting Gabriel with his release. Sam doesn't stop moving right away-he slows himself down, still working himself on Gabriel's shaft. When his dick finally stops spurting, he swivels his hips in figure eights, milking another load of cum from Gabriel. The alpha's knot is oversensitive at this point, but he's not about to deny Sam anything. He watches as the omega keeps moving himself on Gabriel's cock, more cum dribbling from the tip of his still hard dick. Sam works himself for a good ten minutes until finally he falls forward, covering Gabriel's body with his own and squishing him into the mattress.

"Sammy," Gabriel wheezes, tapping him on the back, "can't breathe babe." Sam just snarls and buries his nose against Gabriel's scent gland. "Ho-kay," Gabriel whimpers, just letting Sam be. He's too tired to argue with the omega.

It's gonna be a rough couple of days.

\-----

Gabriel wakes up to a cold cloth swiping against his genitals. It makes him yelp (a little too girlishly, but who cares?) and he's startled into almost a sitting position. Eyes open now, he sees a completely naked Sam hovering over him as he clean him up. Sam's heat scent is even stronger now, if that were possible, and his cock is hard and so engorged it's red. At some point, the rest of Gabriel's clothes were removed and he's sprawled out on the bed completely naked himself. 

Sam reaches behind him and grabs a water bottle. He shoves it in Gabriel's face and grunts "Drink." Gabriel sluggishly grabs the bottle from Sam, unscrews the top, and starts drinking. He chokes on it when, while he's trying to hydrate, Sam sucks his cock down again. With his lips still wrapped around Gabriel's dick, he raises his eyes and watches as Gabriel tries to clear his throat and catch his breath. Once he sees the alpha is okay, he goes back to working his alpha's member, only stopping a couple of times to grunt "Drink" at Gabriel again. He keeps eye contact with Gabriel the entire time he's blowing him, making sure he drinks the entire bottle of water. 

As soon as Gabriel finishes the bottle and sets it aside, Sam climbs back onto his lap. He reaches behind himself, getting some of his slick on his hand. He uses it to jack Gabriel, and the man's eyes roll back into his head at the sensation. Less than a minute later, Sam is dropping down on his cock again and he's off to the races for a second time. It's a repeat of the first time, Sam taking what he wants from his alpha and Gabriel giving Sam the verbal encouragement to take what he wants. They're locked together again in no time, Sam moving on to his hip swiveling quicker than before. 

Sam reaches back and grabs Gabriel's legs, setting himself up a makeshift chair back from Gabriel's thighs. He grabs a cereal bar from the nightstand and shoves it into Gabriel's hand and grunts "Eat." Gabriel is not about to argue; he unwraps the cereal bar (cherry, his favorite) and chews while he watches Sam grab the washcloth he'd been using earlier and wipe his cum off of Gabriel's chest. When Gabriel finishes his cereal bar, Sam wordlessly makes him eat another one, and when that one is gone Sam smothers Gabriel with his body again, falling asleep almost instantly whether Gabriel can breathe with the larger man sprawled on top of him or not.

\---

The next two days are more of the same, but on the third day Sam's no longer monosyllabic. He's coming back to his usual calm, considerate, eloquent self. By mid afternoon he's taking the last ride of his heat, and graciously rolls them over so he's not flattening Gabriel when he's done. Gabriel tried to stretch his back without disturbing Sam; with the exception of when he had to use the bathroom, Sam didn't let him off his back the entire time. It was a new experience for Gabriel. He'd helped a couple omegas through their heats in his life, but he'd been the one who took on the role of caregiver. He'd never been used as a heat sex toy before, and while it was awesome he wasn't sure how he felt about that. He knew Sam saw him as more than a thing to sate his heat, though, just by the was he made sure he was fed, watered, and clean through the entire ordeal (despite not being allowed to shower, because obviously it was easier for Sam if Gabriel smelled like them). 

When Sam woke up and was released from the hospital, they'd have a lot to talk about and not a lot of time to do it. Gabriel only had a few weeks before his assignment was finished, and Sam was still here until at least the end of March. He had no idea what to do about that, but he knew one thing for certain-he wasn't letting Sam go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, it looks like Sam is an aggressive, toppy bastard when he lets his omega side out. Good to know :)


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year everyone!

Just because Sam's heat was over didn't mean he'd get to leave the hospital yet; he was still dehydrated and his hormones were completely out of whack. Not to mention how he acted during his heat left him in a complete mindfuck. He'd done the safe thing and gone through heats every other year, taking a brief break from his suppressants in privacy in order to keep them from screwing up his body, but he'd _never_ turned into a single-minded beast like this before. He felt embarrassed and ashamed and he hoped Gabriel wouldn't hold it against him. 

A knock and a "Hey bitch" disrupted his thoughts. He looked up to see his brother standing in the doorway to his (now normal) hospital room. He groaned, and Dean took that as permission to come in and close the door behind him, giving them some privacy.

"Have a good heat?" Dean joked, lecherous grin on his face.

"Stuff it, jerk." 

"You were the one getting stuffed," Dean laughed. 

"If all you're going to do is be a pain in the ass, you can leave," Sam told him. He wasn't laughing, the whole situation not funny to him in the slightest. Dean picked up on that and chilled out.

"You okay? That little shit treated you right, right?" When Sam broke eye contact and didn't say anything, Dean started mumbling about different ways to kill Gabriel.

"Gabriel didn't do anything wrong," Sam finally said. "It was me."

"You?"

"Me. I was all sorts of wrong." Not knowing how to continue, he just sighed and closed his eyes, hoping his brother would go away. Of course, Dean didn't. He just sat and waited for his brother to open his eyes.

"So, what? You got all needy omega on him?" he asked Sam. "Dude, I don't think he's the kinda guy who's gonna care about that. I mean, you told me about how he treats you the rest of the time, so why would taking care of you during your heat be any different?"

"I _really_ don't want to talk about this with you, Dean."

"Dude, heats and ruts are normal. You're a big boy, it shouldn't be a problem."

"You're my _brother_! I _don't_ want to talk about this with you!" Exasperated, Sam closes his eyes again. "Just let me get some rest so I can get out of here."

After a beat, Dean bites out a "fine" and stomps out, almost slamming the door behind him. Sam gets that Dean is always trying to take care of him, be both the big brother and the concerned parent, but this is new territory for Sam. It's one thing for his brother to tease him (as always) or make sure he's got everything he needs to get through it (because Dean can't _not_ make sure Sam's okay), but to admit to his brother that something went so horribly wrong that he was scared? Nope, not going to happen, because then Dean would stay with him in Panama until his contract was up then drag him back to Kansas with him.

Sam would figure this out on his own. Then he'd talk with Gabriel, because he really hopes he didn't just screw up the best thing that ever happened to him.

\-----

Gabriel sat outside his travel van watching Happy run around, beer in hand. Now that Sam's heat was over, he needed to make sure the rest of Sam's life was taken care of. Dean said his mate and their son had come by to feed and play with Happy while the two men were indisposed, but Gabriel needed the little guy's grounding presence right now. 

He really needed to wrap his head around all the new information he'd gotten since Sam's heat had ended. First and foremost, about Jack's declaration that he wanted same to have _another_ baby. Sam had told Gabriel that Dean and his mate used a surrogate to have their son because they were an Alpha/Alpha couple, and though it wasn't as taboo as it used to be, it was still frowned upon. What he didn't mention was that _he_ had been the the surrogate. Sam didn't have a single stretch mark on him and didn't look like he'd ever carried a kid. According to Dean, Sam took excellent care of himself and his body during the pregnancy (and was secretly delighted his brother was a health nut at that point). With a donor egg and Dean's mate's little swimmers, Sam gladly carried Jack for them even though he didn't want to have kids of his own. 

Gabriel respected the hell out of Sam for making that decision, for giving his brother that kind of gift. Hell, Gabriel hadn't even spoken with his own half brother Cassie since college when their mom kicked him out for hooking up with another alpha. He loved his mom, but she was a cold-hearted bitch, her only happiness coming from her social status. He was proud that Sam was the kind of man who was not only open-minded but also supported his brother's relationship. He wishes he could say the same.

He needed to find out where he and Sam stood, and quick. He only had a few weeks left in Panama to finish his assignment then he had to head back to D.C. 

\-----

Dean slammed the door to the hotel room, caring less about the disturbance here than in a hospital. Castiel and Jack looked up from the bed where they were cuddled together reading something from Jack's tablet.

"It didn't go well, I assume?" Castiel asked. 

"Bitch doesn't wanna talk about it," Dean grunted, then shuffled his way over to the bed and theatrically flopped down across his mate's and son's laps, making Jack giggle. "Oh, you brought your giggle box with you?" Dean asked Jack with a grin, sneaking his hands up to tickle his son's sides. The boy let out a loud squeal, making Castiel flinch at the shrill sound. 

"Language, Dean," Castiel told him sternly, only to have Dean roll his eyes at him, per usual.

"Yes, dear," he replied with a quick kiss to Cas' lips. 

"Is Uncle Sammy gonna be okay?" Jack asked his dads. 

"Yeah, kiddo," Dean told him. "Uncle Sammy's gonna be just fine. His friends are gonna look out for him when we head home."

"But why can't he come home with us? Or we could stay here with him!" Jack started bouncing excitedly. "We could go swimming and play with Happy and make sand castles and-"

"Whoa, slow your roll, little man!" Dean wrapped his arms around his son and pulled him into his lap. "You've gotta go back to school, and Uncle Sammy's gotta finish his job. But he'll come back to see us when he's done."

Jack pouted. "But his friends can't take care of him as good as we can!"

"As _well_ as we can," Castiel corrected his son's grammar. "Your Uncle Sam will be fine down here. He will be too busy working to entertain us, and I'm sure his friends will do a fine job making sure he's alright." Jack and Dean both looked at him skeptically, but Jack accepted it.

"Can we at least go see Happy again before we leave?" Jack begged, giving his best puppy dog eyes that Dean will swear up and down he somehow inherited from his brother.

"Yeah, we'll see Happy _and_ Uncle Sammy before we leave," Dean promised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...and the plot congeals ;)


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK, one more chapter, since I have no desire to work :)

Gabriel was pacing outside of Sam's hospital room. He hadn't seen or heard from Sam since his heat ended, the nurse ushering him out and explaining Sam needed rest, tests, and to be moved to a new room. That was two days ago. Then this morning he just got a text from Sam saying _Discharging @10am, need a ride, bring my truck._ The radio silence damned near killed him, but this felt infinitely worse. He loaded up Happy into Sam's humongous truck and headed to the hospital to face his fate.

"I can smell you worrying from here," Sam calls out, and Gabriel just huffs. He pushes the door open to see the omega sitting on the edge of his bed, fully dressed in jeans and a flannel with the sleeves rolled up, his bag sitting next to him. The room smells like poorly fermented apples and Gabriel's not sure if it's fear or anxiety or what causing Sam's scent to sour.

"Hey Gorgeous," the alpha says cautiously. Sweet notes hit the scent in the room, and Gabriel can see the tension leave Sam's shoulders and one side of his mouth quirk up. 

"Hey Gabe. Thanks for coming to get me." 

Yeah, Gabriel's not having any of that cordial shit. He crosses the room and takes Sam in his arms, startling the man. "I've missed you Sammy." Sam just hugs him back tighter. Whatever wall started going up between the two felt like it was coming down.

"Missed you too, alpha," Sam says softly, and Gabriel can feel the warmth from Sam's blushing cheeks against his face. He can't help the grin that lifts his lips.

"Ready to go home?" 

"We need to take my brother and his family to the airport," Sam replies. "We need to stop by the trailer and grab Happy first; Dean promised Jack he could say goodbye to both of us."

Gabriel bounced his eyebrows. "What makes you think our little man wanted to wait at home when he hasn't seen you for so long? He's outside waiting for us." Sam just laughs and hugs Gabriel again.

The nurse comes in with discharge papers and care instructions. The birth control shot he got before his heat will be good for three months, then he'll need to get another one. In the meantime, Sam was to stay hydrated, rest, and let his body recover from the hormone imbalance. If he has any side effects from the shot, he should come in immediately. Grateful the whole thing is behind him, Sam signs off on the paperwork, takes Gabriel by the hand, and they head out to the truck.

Happy loses his shit when he sees Sam, and Sam can't help but laugh. Opening the door to the truck gets him two armfuls of wiggly corgi trying to lick every part of Sam he could get to.

"He missed his daddy," Gabriel says happily, then his smile drops at the words that came out of his mouth. As they settle into the truck, Sam driving since his brother gave him the address, so does the silence. "Soooooo..." Gabriel tries. "Charlie said not to bother coming in for the rest of the week, that you need to take care of yourself and-"

"Are we really going to make small talk?" Sam interrupts.

"When were you going to tell me about Jack?" Gabriel counters, and immediately regrets it when Sam sucks in a breath. "I mean, I don't have a problem with it! At all! It's just, you told me you never wanted kids and I was- _am_ totally cool with that. But it's kinda a big thing, you know?"

"Yeah, I know," Sam sighs. "It's not like I was trying to hide it, it just never came up."

"Not even when you were telling me about how cool your nephew was?"

"You're right. I just get kind of overprotective of my brother and his family," Sam explains. "They both really wanted kids and were planning to adopt, but no one wanted to help an Alpha/Alpha couple, you know?"

"I get it Sam," Gabriel tries to respond, but Sam doesn't let him.

"No, you don't know. I still don't want to have kids, but my brother and his mate were desperate." Sam sucked in a breath. "And I _hated_ being pregnant, even if I had an easy pregnancy. I didn't feel like myself, and after a while I started resenting my brother, his mate, even the baby for a while there. I had to go to therapy afterwards just to make sure I wasn't screwed up, being an omega and not wanting the same things all the other omegas wanted."

"But you're not _all the other omegas_ , Sam." Gabriel reaches across the truck's bench seat and takes Sam's hand. "I think what _you're_ not getting is that I'm not upset you were a surrogate for your brother, or that they're both alphas, or that you didn't like being pregnant and don't want to do it again. We've been doing this for a couple months and I thought we were starting something serious here, but now I realize you've held a lot back from me. _That's_ what bothers me. I just don't know how to feel about that."

Sam winces at that. He let his fear get the better of him and now it could cost him the only alpha outside of his family that he's ever felt so close to. An alpha he'd actually started thinking he'd like to mate. 

"I'm sorry Gabe," Sam whispers.

"Hey, don't be sorry," he says, lifting Sam's hand to his lips and kissing it. "I just think we need to get on the same page here. I want to know everything about you. I want to tell you all about my crappy childhood and stories about college and my work and my travels. I don't need a baby to be happy with you, Sam. I just need you. All of you."

Sam can't think of anything else to say, just sniffs as he tries to fight back the tears trying to escape. Gabriel just squeezes his hand again and smiles. "Okay?"

Sam nods. "Okay."

"Okay then," Gabriel says with a big grin. "So after we take the fam to the airport, how about we find a street food cart, grab some sustenance, and head back to your place for some cuddles and conversation?"

"Sounds like a plan," Sam says, smiling back. He drops Gabriel's hand to turn into the parking lot for his brother's hotel. Gabriel clips Happy's leash on and the little guy is anxious to get out when Sam stops the truck. Sam takes his hand again as they walk up the stairs to his family's room, letting Gabriel hang on to Happy's leash.

"Hold on to him," Sam says happily as he knocks on the door, "Jack may try to steal him from us."

Gabriel gasps in feigned shock. "He's not taking our boy from us!" he exclaims, and they break out in laughter. When the door opens, Gabriel stops.

"Hey Cas," Sam says, still trying to control his laughter. 

"Cassie?" Gabriel says, astonished.

"Gabriel?" Castiel says, the shock on his face equaling Gabe's.


End file.
